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ICJ 8930 



Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1983 




Copper Availability— Market Economy Countries 

A Minerals Availability Program Appraisal 

By R. D. Rosenkranz, E. H. Boyle, Jr., and K. E. Porter 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Information Circular 8930 



Copper Availability— Market Economy Countries 

A Minerals Availability Program Appraisal 

By R. D. Rosenkranz, E. H. Boyle, Jr., and K. E. Porter 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

William P. Ciark, Secretary 

BUREAU OF MINES 
Robert C. Horton, Director 



As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the 
Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands 
and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land 
and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the 
environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical 
places, and providing for the enjojTnent of life through outdoor recreation. 
The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to 
assure that their development is in the best interests of all our people. The 
Department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reserva- 
tion communities and for people who live in island territories under U.S. 
administration. _t-.i 



This publication has been cataloged as follows: 



Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Rosenkranz, Rodney D. 

Copper availability— market economy countires. 

(information circular; 8930) 

Bibliography: p. 29 

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 28.27: 

1 . Copper industry and trade. I.Boyle, Edward H. li. Porter, K. E. (Kenneth E.) 
ill United States. Bureau of Mines. IV. Title. V. Series: Information circular (United States. 
Bureau of Mines): 8930. 

■TN^2954J4" [HD9539.C6] 622s [338.4'76733] 82-600393 



PREFACE 

In ordef to assess the availability of nonfiiel minerals, the Bureau of Mines Minerals 
Availability Program identifies, collects, compiles, and evaluates information on producing, 
developing, and explored mines and deposits and mineral processing plants worldwide. 
Objectives are to classify domestic and foreign resources, identify by cost evaluation resources 
that are reserves, and prepare analyses of mineral availabilities. 

This report is one of a continuing series of minerals avsiilability reports that analyze the 
availability of 34 minerals from domestic and foreign sources. Questions about the program 
should be addressed to: Chief, Division of Minerals Availability, Bureau of Mines, 2401 E St., 
NW, Washington, D.C. 20241. 



For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 
Waslilncton. D.C. 20402 



CONTENTS 

Page Page 

Preface ii Mining 19 

Abstract 1 Milling 19 

Introduction 2 Smelting, refining, and miscellaneous 19 

Background 2 Total operating cost 19 

Summary of evaluation procedure 2! Taxes 19 

Other studies 2 Byproduct revenues 19 

Acknowledgments 2 Net and total cost 20 

World copper production 2 Transportation cost 20 

Identification and selection of copper deposits 3 Capital costs 21 

Market economy copper resources 4 Copper availability 22 

North America 5 Total availability from producing, developing, 

Central and South America 6 and explored deposits 22 

Europe , 11 Total availability by region 22 

Middle East and western Asia 11 Annual availability 23 

Eastern Asia and Oceania 12 U.S. availability 24! 

Africa 12 Total production 24 

Deposit evaluation procedure 14 Annual production 25 

Capital and operating cost estimation 15 Factors affecting copper availability 2T 

Assumptions 16 Inflation 27 

Availability curves 16 Byproduct commodity prices 28 

Operating and capital costs 17 Summary and conclusions 28 

Mine and mill operating costs 17 References 29 

Total production costs 18' Appendix 30 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

1. Bureau of Mines-U.S. Geological Survey system for classification of mineral resources 4 

2. Copper availability from producing and nonproducing deposits 5 

3. Deposit evaluation procedure 15 

4. Total copper availability from mines and deposits 22 

5. Breakdown of total copper availability from producing, developing, and explored deposits 22 

6. Total copper availability by major region 23 

7. Potential annual copper production from producing, developing," and explored deposits 24 

8. Potential annual copper production by major region 25 

9. Total copper availability from U.S. mines and deposits 25 

10. Potential annual copper production from producing U.S. mines 26 

11. Potential annual copper production from developing and explored U.S. deposits 26 

12. Total copper availability from producing U.S. mines 26 

13. Potential annual capacity of producing U.S. mines in 1983 27 

14. Impact of capital cost increases on copper availability 27 

15. Impact of 25-pct operating cost increase on copper availability 27 

16. Impact of bj^product price changes on total copper availability 28 

TABLES 

1. World mine production of copper 3 

2. Nimiber and status of copper deposits evaluated 5 

3. Copper resource information 6 

4. Average ore grade and recoverable copper from producing mines 7 

5. Average ore grade and recoverable copper from developing and explored deposits 7 

Descriptive information for individual copper deposits: 

6. North America 8 

7. Central and South America 10 

8. Europe 11 

9. Middle East and western Asia 12 

10. Eastern Asia and Oceania 13 

11. Africa 14 

12. Byproduct commodity prices used in analysis 16 

13. Estimated mine and mill operating costs for producing copper mines 17 

14. Estimated production costs for producing copper mines 18 

15. Estimated copper transportation costs for selected countries 20 

16. Estimated capital costs for developing and explored copper deposits 21 

17. Copper potentially available from producing, developing, and explored deposits at selected copper price 

ranges 22 

18. Copper potentially available by region at selected total production cost ranges 23 

19. Estimated annual copper mine capacity 23 

20. Copper potentially available from U.S. mines and deposits at selected total production cost ranges 25 

A-1. Deposits investigated but not included in this study 30 



UNIT OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT 



lb 


pound 


ton/d 


(metric) ton per day 


oz/ton 


troy ounce per (metric) ton 


ton/yr 


(metric) ton per year 


pet 


percent 







COPPER AVAILABILITY— MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES 
A Minerals Availability Program Appraisal 

By R. D. Rosenkranz,' E. H. Boyle, Jr.,^ and K. E. Porter^ 
ABSTRACT 



The Bureau of Mines has investigated the availability of copper from 272 deposits in market 
economy countries. The deposits studied have demonstrated resources totaling 413 million 
metric tons of contained copper and account for more than 90 pet of the reserve base for market 
economy countries. Using data gathered as part of its Minerals Availability Program, the 
Bureau performed geologic, engineering, and economic evaluations in order to determine the 
copper production potential of each deposit. 

At the 1981 copper market price of $0.85/lb, the deposits studied could economically produce 
an estimated 88 million metric tons of copper (allowing for profit computed at a 15-pct rate of 
return), primarily from mines operating at the time of the study (1981). At this price, producing 
mines in market economy countries could economically produce only 2.1 million metric tons of 
refined copper per year. However, actual 1981 production was 6.2 million metric tons, indicating 
that many mines continued to operate even though they were unable to cover all production 
costs. For U.S. producing mines, the estimated average cost of production per pound (including 
profit at a 15-pct rate of return) was $0.15 higher than the average cost in other market economy 
countries. 



' Mineral economist. 
^ Geologist. 
' Mining engineer. 
All authors are with the Minerals Availability Field Office, Bureau of Mines, Denver, Colo. 



INTRODUCTION 



BACKGROUND 

The world copper industry has been in a depressed state 
since 1974. Because of low copper prices throughout the 
1970's, many mines curtailed production, and new 
developments were postponed or canceled. In early 1980, a 
brief increase in copper and byproduct prices temporarily 
relieved the industry. However, because of recent de- 
creases in these prices, combined with the effects of 
inflation and the high cost of borrowed money, the future 
of the world copper industry remains uncertain. 

In the United States, since 1981, many copper mines 
have experienced temporary shutdowns, and several have 
closed, perhaps permanently. Low copper and bjrproduct 
prices, together with production costs that were higher 
than those in foreign countries (an average of $0.15 higher 
per pound of refined copper), resulted in 1982 U.S. copper 
production estimated at only 65 pet of capacity. 

SUMMARY OF 
EVALUATION PROCEDURE 

The Bureau's primary objectives in this study were to 
evaluate the availability of copper from the world's 
meirket economy countries and to assess domestic copper 
resources in relation to those of all other market economy 
countries. The procedures used to accomplish these 
objectives were as follows: 



1. The quantity and quality of world copper resources 
were evaluated in relation to physical, technological, 
political, and other factors that affect production for each 
of the deposits studied. 

2. Capital investments and operating costs for appropri- 
ate mining, concentrating, and processing methods were 
estimated for each deposit. 

3. An economic analysis was performed for each deposit. 
(The results of these analyses indicate the unit cost and 
associated tonnages of copper that could be recovered from 
each deposit at specific production levels. The analyses 
concentrated on determining the cost of production and 
did not consider the effects of demand and market price.) 

4. Price-production relationships were combined and 
analyzed in the form of total and annual availability 
curves to show combined market economy and regional 
copper production potentials at various commodity prices. 

OTHER STUDIES 

Copper availability studies quickly become obsolete 
because of changes in the many factors that influence the 
industry. Previous Bureau studies of domestic copper 
resources were based on 1964 (19),' 1970 (1), and 1978 
data (22). A 1980 Bureau study presented a perspective on 
the financial health of the U.S. copper industry (27); and a 
1981 Bureau report studied the problems, issues, and 
outlook for the U.S. copper industry (25). 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Production and cost data for domestic deposits were 
developed at Bureau of Mines Field Operation Centers in 
Denver, Colo., Juneau, Alaska, Pittsburgh, Pa., and 



Spokane, Wash. Foreign data were collected through 
contract with Colder Associates, Inc., of Denver, Colo. 



WORLD COPPER PRODUCTION 



World mine production of copper in 1980 was 7.7 million 
tons of contained copper;* of this total, 6 million tons was 
from market economy countries. World mine production 
for 1981 has been estimated at 7.8 million tons of 
contained copper, with market economy country mines 
producing 6.2 million tons. 

World mine production for 1960, 1970, and 1980 is 
shown by region and country in table 1. Between 1960 and 
1970, world mine production increased 43 pet from 4.2 
million tons of contained copper to 6 million tons. During 
this time, Canada, Chile, the Philippines, the Republic of 
South Africa, the United States, and Zambia all greatly 
expanded production. From 1970 to 1980, world mine 
production increased at a slower rate, rising 27 pet. 
During this time, production increased by at least 100,000 
tons of contained copper in Chile, China, Peru, the 
Philippines, Poland, and the U.S.S.R., while production in 



■* Italic numbers in parentheses refer to items in the list of references 
preceding the appendix. 

' In this report, "ton" refers to the metric ton (2,204.8 lb), except where 
otherwise indicated. 



the United States dropped nearly 500,000. tons. However, 
the 1980 decline in U.S. production can be attributed 
primarily to strikes. Domestic production in 1981 has 
been estimated at 1.52 million tons of contained copper, 
which is about equal to 1970 production. 

In 1980, North American mines produced 2.07 million 
tons of contained copper, accounting for 27 pet of world 
mine production and 34 pet of all market economy 
production. Central and South America was the next 
largest market economy region in terms of copper output, 
producing 1.44 million tons (24 pet of all market economy 
production), followed by Africa, which produced 1.35 
million tons (22 pet). Central economy mines produced an 
estimated 1.63 million tons of contained copper in 1980, 
and more than 55 pet of this production came from the 
U.S.S.R. 

Although U.S. mine production (of contained copper) 
dropped nearly 20 pet in 1980, to 1.2 million tons, owing to 
an industrywide labor strike, the United States remained 
the world's largest producer. However, 1980 Chilean mine 
production was 1.1 million tons, only 100,000 tons less 



Table 1.— World mine production of copper, by region and country' (2, 23, 28, 31) 

(Thousand metric tons) 



Region and country 



1960 1970 "1980 



Region and country 



1960 1970 "1980 



MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES 



MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES— Continued 



North Amenca: 

Canada^ 

Mexico 

United States^. 
Total 



Eastern Asia and Oceania: 

Australia 

Indonesia 

Japan' 

Malaysia 

Papua New Guinea . . . 

Phrlippines 

Other* 

Total 



399 

60 

980 



610 

61 

1,560 



371 6 

175 

*1.1B1 



1.439 2J31 



2.072 



Central and South America: 

Brazil 

Chile 

Peru^ 

Other 

Total 

Europe: 

Finland 

Norway* 

Spain 

Sweden 

Yugoslavia' 

Other* 

Total 



1 
536 
182 

9 



4 

711 

220 

18 



^1,068 

^67 

4 



111 



44 
3 



158 
120 

160 



728 



953 



1.440 



28 
15 
8 
18 
33 
14 



31 
20 
9 
26 
91 
18 



37 
26 
42 
43 
134 
.12 



Africa: 

Botswana' 

Namibia 

Republic of South Africa . 

Zaire 

Zambia 

Zimbabwe 

Other* 

Total 



21 
46 
302 
576 
14 
19 



31 

150 

386 

684 

27 

23 



978 



.116 



296 



Total, marl<et economy countries 3,586 5,186 



Middle East and western Asia: 

Cyprus* 

India' 

Iran 

Israel 

Turfsey 

Total 



CENTRAL ECONOMY COUNTRIES 



35 
9 



6 
27 



18 

11 



8 
27 



22 
4 
1 

21 



64 



^ 



Bulgaria 

China' 

Poland^ 

U.S.S.R."*. 
Other. 

Total. 



11 
70 
11 
499 
43 



43 
100 

72 
571 

50 



3232 

'58 

352 

27 

3147 

304 

2 



247 442 822 



316 

339 

3201 

3459 

3596 

27 



1^7 



6,055 



58 
200 
^346 
900 
127 



7.656 



■ Estimate. - indicates or negligible tonnage in the year shown. " Preliminary. 

' Data presented represent copper content (recoverable, where indicated) of ore mined wherever possible. If such data are not available the figures presented are 
the nonduplicative total copper content of ores, concentrates, matte, metal, and/or other copper-bearing products measured at the last stage of processing for which 
data are available. Table includes data available through June 29, 1981 . 

^ Recoverable. 

3 Reported figure. 

' The year 1 980 was a strike year for U.S. mines and therefore is not representative of actual U.S. production. Production for 1961 was estimated to t>e 1 .52 million 
tons. 

* Includes copper content of cupriferous pyrite. 

' Copper content of concentrates produced. 

' Copper content of matte produced. 



than that of the United States. Although the ore grade of 
Chilean copper has decreased in recent years, the Chilean 
Government has committed large amounts of capital to 
expand existing capacities and maintain or possibly 
increase output during the 1980's. Other large market 



economy producers include Canada, 716,000 tons; Zambia, 
596,000 tons; Zaire, 459,000 tons; Peru, 367,000 tons; and 
the Philippines, 304,000 tons. Additional copper produc- 
tion and consumption data are available in other Bureau 
publications (2, 24, 28). 



IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION OF COPPER DEPOSITS 



Any study of copper availability that encompasses most 
of the world runs the risk of becoming bogged down in 
time-consuming efforts to collect data on insignificant 
deposits. Because of money and time constraints, a 
necessary first step in such a study is to rank deposits 
according to their significance. Using the criteria and 
procedures described below, the Bureau selected 272 
copper deposits' in 40 market economy countries for this 
study. (Most deposits in the market economy countries not 
included in the study are insignificant.) The 272 deposits 
studied account for more than 90 pet of the copper reserve 
base for all market economy countries. 

Using in-house and published data, the Bureau first 
compiled a list of neary 300 foreign deposits. Each deposit 
appeared to have a published resource of at least 100,000 



' In this report, "deposits" refers either to developing and/or explored 
copper properties or to all the properties and operations studied (i.e., 
producing, developing, and explored). "Mines" refers only to operations 
that were producing (or temporarily shut down) at the time of the study. 



tons of contained copper. The Bureau then issued a 
contract for the collection of additional deposit data. Of 
the approximately 300 initial deposits, about 100 were 
found to be raw prospects with very little exploration data, 
or they contained resources much smaller than 100,000 
tons of contained copper. No further investigation was 
made of these deposits. (Reasons why individual deposits 
were not evaluated are listed in the appendix to this 
report.) Complete engineering and economic evaluations 
were performed on each of the remaining 199 foreign 
deposits and on 73 domestic deposits. Nearly all of these 
deposits have resources of at least 100,000 tons of 
contained copper. Most reserve and resource tonnage and 
grade calculations were computed from company 
measurements, samples, or production data and from 
estimations based on geologic evidence. 

This study did not address the availability of copper 
from central economy countries. Although Bulgaria, 
China, Poland, and the U.S.S.R. are major producers, it 



Cumulative 
production 



IDENTIFIED RESOURCES 



Demonstroted 



Measured Indicated 



Inferred 



UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES 



Hypothetical 



Probability range 
-(or)- 



Speculative 



ECONOMIC 



MARGINALLY 
ECONOMIC 



SUB- 
ECONOMIC 



Reserve 



base 



Inferred 



reserve 



base 



-I- 



other 
Occurrences 



Includes nonconventional and low-grade materials 



Figure 1. — Bureau of Mines-U.S. Geological Survey system for classification of mineral resources. 



was not possible to collect the detailed data necessary to 
evaluate deposits in these countries. 

Resource estimates for the deposits evaluated were 
made at the demonstrated resource level according to the 
mineral resource classification system developed by the 
U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines (fig. 1) 
(29). Using this classification system, a portion of the 
resources is termed the reserve base, which is the in-place 
demonstrated (measured plus indicated) resource from 
which reserves are estimated. The reserve base includes 
resources that are currently economic (reserves), margi- 
nally economic (marginal reserves), and some that are 
currently subeconomic (subeconomic resources). 

The world copper reserve base amounts to 505 million 
tons of contained copper, of which 445 million tons occurs 
in market economy countries (28). U.S. deposits contain 



an estimated 90 million tons of copper. The 272 deposits 
analyzed in this study together have demonstrated 
resources of 413 million tons of contained copper. 

Although low copper and byproduct prices have not 
encouraged exploration in recent years, known resources 
fca:,many deposits are large enough to last for many years. 
In comparison with the demonstrated resource of 413 
million tons of contained copper evaluated for this study, 
total land-based copper resources, including hypothetical 
and speculative deposits, are estimated to contain 1,627 
million tons of copper. U.S. operating mines are estimated 
to contain an inferred tonnage of 68 million tons of copper 
in resources that have not been included in mining plans 
(6). An additional 690 million tons is estimated to exist in 
deep-sea-nodule resources (28). These additional re- 
sources were not evaluated in this study. 



MARKET ECONOMY COPPER RESOURCES 



Demonstrated resources for the 272 deposits analyzed 
have been estimated at 50 billion tons of in-place material 
averaging 0.83 pet copper. This material contains an 
estimated 413 million tons of copper which is 80 pet 
potentially recoverable with present technology. 

Of the 330 million tons of copper potentially recoverable 
from the deposits analyzed, 63 pet exists in the 146 mines 
that were producing (or only temporarily shut down) at 
the time of the study, and 37 pet is contained in the 126 
developing and explored deposits. An estimated 76 pet of 
the recoverable copper occurs in porphyry deposits 
(including disseminated, stoekwork, and skarn), 16 pet is 
in stratabound sedimentary deposits, 3 pet is in massive 
sulfide deposits (including volcanogenic), and 5 pet occurs 
in other type deposits. 

Figure 2' shows that a small percentage of the deposits 



analyzed accounts for a large percentage of the available 
copper. Of the resource potentially recoverable from 
producing mines, nearly 60 pet is attributable to only 10 
pet of the mines (i.e., the 15 mines with the largest 
resources), and more than 80 pet is attributable to 25 pet 
of the mines (40 mines). Of the potential recoverable 
resource from nonproducing deposits, nearly 45 pet is 
attributable to 10 pet of the deposits (i.e., the 12 deposits 
with the largest resources), and about 70 pet is attribut- 
able to 25 pet of the deposits (31 deposits). 

For this analysis, the market economy countries were 
disaggregated into six regions: North America, Central 
and South America, Europe, the Middle East and western 



' Unless otherwise specified, all data in the illustrations and tables in 
this report are combined data for the 272 deposits studied. 



1 1 1 1 I 




Table 2.— Number and status of copper deposits evaluated, by 
region and country 



Developing and explored 



20 40 60 BO 100 120 140 

NUMBER OF DEPOSITS 

Figure 2.— Copper availability from producing and nonpro- 
duclng deposits, based on number of deposits, with deposits 
ranked by size. 



Asia, eastern Asia and Oceania, and Africa. Countries 
included in each of these regions are listed in table 2, 
which also shows how many deposits from each country 
were evaluated. As shown in table 3,° the Central and 
South American countries have the largest recoverable 
copper resources, and the recoverable resources of the 
North American countries are nearly as large. Individual 
countries with the largest recoverable copper resources 
include Chile, the United States, Peru, Zaire, Canada, 
Zambia, and Mexico. These countries account for over 75 
pet of the copper potentially recoverable from the market 
economy deposits studied. Table 4 shows that of these 
countries' recoverable copper resources, over 60 pet, or 
approximately 206 million tons, occurs in mines that were 
producing at the time of the study. An estimated 55 pet of 
these resources will probably be mined by surface 
methods. Recoverable copper resources occurring in 
nonprodueing deposits are described in table 5. 

In the sections that follow, the copper resource of each of 
the six regions identified in table 2 is discussed. Tables in 
each section provide a description of each of the deposits 
evaluated. The deposit descriptions include production 
status, year of first production, mining and geological 
type, annual capacity, and size range of copper resource. 



NORTH AMERICA 

The 117 North American deposits analyzed in this study 
are listed in table 6. These deposits have a resource 



Region and country 



Number of deposits 



North America: 

Canada 

Mexico 

United States 

Central and South America: 

Argentina 

Brazil 

Chile 

Panama 

Penj 

Europe: 

Finland 

Nonway 

Portugal 

Spain 

Sweden 

Yugoslavia 

Middle East and western Asia 

India 

Iran 

Israel 

Jordan 

Oman 

Pakistan 

Saudi Arabia 

Turkey 

Eastern Asia and Oceania: 

Australia 

Burma 

Fiji 

Indonesia 

Japan 

Malaysia 

Papua New Guinea 

Philippines 

Africa: 

Botswana 

Mauritania 

Morocco 

Namibia 

South Africa 

Sudan 

Uganda 

Zaire 

Zambia 

Zimbabwe 

Total 



Producing 


Nonprodueing 


22 


17 


2 


4 


32 


40 





3 





3 


10 


8 





2 


5 


7 


3 





1 





1 


1 


3 


1 


2 


1 


3 


1 


4 


2 





1 


1 








1 





1 





1 





1 


3 


2 


7 


8 





1 





1 


1 





2 





1 





1 


3 


14 


9 


1 








1 


1 





3 




5 














8 




9 




1 






146 



126 



' Unless otherwise specified, all data in the tables in this report are for 
January 1981, and costs and prices are average 1981 dollars. 



potential of 105 million tons of recoverable copper, or 32 
pet of the total potentially recoverable from market 
economy countries. Of the three North American coun- 
tries, the United States has by far the largest recoverable 
resources, totaling 66 million tons, with over half 
occurring in Arizona. (Only Chile's copper resources are 
larger than those of the United States.) Canada and 
Mexico also have significant resources of recoverable 
copper, with totals of 20 and 18 million tons, respectively. 
(Not included in tables 3-6 is an additional 4 million tons 
of copper that is potentially recoverable as a byproduct of 
Canadian nickel deposits. These deposits were not 
included in the analyses because cost information was 
unavailable at the time of the study.) Over 60 pet of North 
American resources occur in mines that were producing at 
the time of the study. 

Ore grades for North American copper deposits are 
generally lower than those of the other regions, ranging 
from 0.67 pet Cu in Mexico to 0.52 pet Cu in Canada. The 
average grade for U.S. deposits is 0.66 pet Cu. From many 
Canadian deposits, low-grade copper is economically 
recoverable only as a coproduet or byproduct of other 
metal production. 

Thirty-five North American deposits have copper 
resources of greater than 1 million tons of contained 



Table 3. — Copper resource information, by region and country 



Region and country 



Number of deposits 



In-place 

copper grade, 

pet 



Million metric tons 



In-place 
material 



Contained 
copper 



Recoverable 
copper' 



Recoverable 

copper as a 

percent of market 

economy total 



North America: ,„^„ 

Canada .I".*!'.1JII'.*. 39 

Mexico 6 

United States 72 

Total or average^ 117 

Central and South America: 

Argentina 3 

Brazil 3 

Chile 18 

Panama 2 

Peru 12 

Total or average^ 

Europe: 

Spain 

Yugoslavia 

Other 

Total or average^ 

Middle East and western Asia 

India 

Turkey 

Other 

Total or average^ 

Eastern Asia and Oceania: 

Australia 

Papua New Guinea 

Philippines 

Other 

Total or average^ 

Africa: 

Namibia 4 

South Africa 6 

Zaire 9 

Zambia 10 

Other 6 

Total or average^ 35 

Grand total or average^ 272 

' Losses from mining and processing have been subtracted. 

^ Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding 



0.52 
.67 
.66 



.63 



.56 
1.38 
.97 
.77 
.85 



2.77 



.83 



4,505 
3,339 
12,527 



23.4 
22.5 
83.0 



128.9 



1,279 

120 

10,352 

1,551 

2,974 



7.2 

1.7 

100.1 

11.9 

25.3 



49,686 



413.4 



20.3 
18.0 
66.3 



104.5 



6.2 
1.3 

85.7 
9.2 

21.6 



329.5 



6.2 

5.5 

20.1 



1.9 

.4 

26.0 

2.8 

6.6 



38 


.90 


16,276 


146.1 


124.1 


37.7 


4 
4 
9 


.64 
.57 
.68 


256 

1,347 

719 


1.7 
7.1 
4.9 


1.2 
5.6 
3.7 


.4 
1.7 
1.1 


17 


.59 


2,322 


13.6 


10.6 


3.2 


6 
5 
6 


1.26 

1.91 

.87 


244 

99 

856 


3.1 
1.9 
7.4 


2.3 
1.3 
6.1 


.7 

.4 

1.9 


17 


1.04 


1,198 


12.4 


9.7 


2.9 


15 
4 

23 
6 


1.77 
.50 
.48 
.66 


894 
2,141 
3,219 

951 


15.8 
10.8 
15.4 
6.3 


11.8 
8.6 

11.0 
3.9 


3.6 
2.6 
3.3 

1.2 


48 


.67 


7,205 


48.3 


35.3 


10.7 



2.53 


32 


.8 


.5 


.2 


.66 


521 


3.4 


2.9 


.9 


4.01 


693 


28.3 


21.4 


6.5 


3.04 


997 


30.4 


19.4 


5.9 


1.90 


72 


1.4 


1.1 


.3 



13.7 



100.0 



copper each. Resources from these deposits account for 
nearly 80 pet of the copper recoverable from all North 
American operations and total nearly 16 billion tons of 
material averaging 0.65 pet Cu. 

Five North American deposits were either developing or 
planned for development at the time of this study; one was 
in Canada, and four were in the United States. The Valley 
Copper deposit (also known as Lake Zone) in Canada, 
which was recently purchased by Cominco, Ltd., has 
published reserves of 726 million tons of ore, with grades 
of 0.475 pet Cu and 0.005 pet Mo, and minor amounts of 
gold and silver. Production may be possible by 1984 (3). 
Two U.S. deposits, the Copper Flat deposit in New Mexico 
and the Troy deposit in Montana, were in development at 
the beginning of this study but have since begun 
production. Copper Flat, a joint venture of Quintana 
Minerals Corp. and Philbro Mineral Enterprises, has 
published ore reserves of 54 million tons grading 0.4 pet 
Cu, 5.5 oz/ton Ag, and 0.22 oz/ton Au; it also contains 
significant amounts of molybdenum (15). The open pit 
mine began production in early 1982 but was shut down 
several months later because of market conditions. The 
Troy copper-silver mine, owned by ASARCO Incorporated, 
began limited production in August 1981 and is expected 



to become the largest U.S. producer of silver. A 
room-and-pillar mining method is yielding 7,700 tons of 
ore per day. Reserves are sufficient for 17 years of 
production; grades average 1 pet Cu and approximately 2 
oz/ton Ag. About $82 million has been invested (14). The 
Miami East, Ariz., deposit, owned by Cities Service Co., 
will be an underground cut-and-fill operation. Production 
was originally scheduled for mid-1982, but has been 
postponed owing to market conditions. At a daily 
production of 1,800 tons of ore, the ore body is expected to 
be mined out in about 13 years (12). The Casa Grande, 
Ariz., deposit will be an underground operation with a 
planned daily copacity of 6,350 tons of ore. Production was 
originally scheduled to begin in 1984, but startup of this 
mine has also been postponed due to market conditions. 



CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 

The 38 mines and deposits evaluated in Central and 
South America are listed in table 7. Demonstrated 
resources for this region, estimated at 124 million tons of 
recoverable copper, are larger than those of any other 
region and account for 38 pet of the copper potentially 



.65 


47.9 


28 


1.03 


11.1 


21 


1.02 
.79 


18.6 
9.6 


33 

31 


1.00 
1.36 


44.2 
.8 


90 
21 



Table 4. — Average ore grade and recoverable copper from producing mines,' by region and country 

Surface mines Underground mines 

Region and country Average ore grade, ^^Tr'^^^, Average li,e, Average ore grade, ^^^1^1^,, Averagelife, 

*" metric tons '' P" metric tons ^ 

North America: 

Canada 0.38 4.4 15 2.10 3 6 14 

Mexico .71 12.7 44 NAp NAp NAo 

United States .67 30.7 26 .88 7.6 27 

Total or average^ 

Central and South America: 

Chile 

Peru 

Total or average^ .93 28.2 32 1 .01 45.0 85 

Europe .51 5.0 32 1.00 1.2 24 

Middle East and western Asia 1.19 .5 15 1.1g ,5 27 

Eastern Asia and Oceania: 

Australia 

Philippines 

Other 

Total or average^ 

Africa: 

Zaire 

Zambia 

Other 

Total or average^ 

Grand total or average^ .75 101 .1 28 1 .27 84.3 40 

NAp Not applicable. 

' Does not include mines having leach operations only or combined surface and underground operations. An additional 21 million tons of copper is recoverable from 
these mines. 
^ Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 



1.79 
.49 

.44 


.1 
3.6 
2.4 


7 
22 
16 


3.01 

.47 

2.56 


5.7 
2.0 
1.6 


33 
19 
18 


.48 


6.1 


19 


1.33 


9.3 


26 


4.05 

NAp 

.55 


11.7 


32 

NAp 

15 


3.90 
3.20 
1.48 


5.8 

10.1 

1.3 


33 
29 
12 


2.29 


13.4 


28 


3.13 


17.2 


27 



Table 5.— Average ore grade and recoverable copper from developing and explored deposits,' by region and country 

Surface deposits Underground deposits 

Region and country Average ore grade, ^p^-^|?i'o^ Average l«e, Average ore grade, .^p^^-,'^'^^, Averagelife. 

P" metric tons ' P" metric tons '' 

North America: 

Canada 0.47 10.3 24 0.88 0.4 11 

Mexico .59 5.1 20 1.57 .1 13 

UnitedStates .42 10.5 25 .95 11.9 23 

Total or average^ .47 26.0 23 .95 12.4 22 

Central and South America: ==^=^^=^=^==:^:==z=z==z==::^:^==^^^^^=^^^^=^^^ 

Argentina .56 6.2 31 NAp NAp NAp 

Chile .84 20.5 32 1.20 1.1 33 

Peru .87 11.1 25 3.20 .2 11 

Other .77 9.2 45 1.05 .1 11 

Total or average^ 

Europe 

Middle East and western Asia 

Eastern Asia and Oceania: 

Australia 

Philippines 

aher 

Total or average^ 

Africa: 

Zaire 

Zambia 

Other 

Total or average^ 

Grand total or average^ .63 96.6 28 1 .09 22.3 24 

NAp Not applicable. 

' Does not include deposits having leach operations only or combined surface and underground operations. An additional 4.2 million tons of copper is potentially 
recoverable from these deposits. 
' Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 



.78 


47.1 


32 


1.28 


1.4 


24 


.43 
.85 


2.4 
6.0 


33 
34 


1.57 
2.38 


.8 
1.1 


18 
18 


.92 

.52 
.52 


.5 
2.5 
8.6 


24 

15 
27 


1.29 

.60 

NAp 


5.1 

.5 

NAp 


40 

38 

NAp 


.52 


11.7 


23 


1.17 


5.6 


40 


5.70 
NAp 
2.63 


3.0 
NAP 


36 

NAp 

12 


NAp 
4.08 
1.03 


NAp 
.2 
.8 


NAP 
19 


4.68 


3.5 


27 


1.26 


1.0 


18 



Table 6.— Descriptive information for individual North American copper deposits 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 



Status' 


Year of 

first 
produc- 

tion' 


Mining 
typffT 


Geo- 
logical 
type' 


Copper 
resource' 


Capacity,' 
thousand 

metric 

tons copper 

per year 


P 


1977 


S 


P 


A 


17.3 


P 


1972 


S 


P 


A 


21.4 


E 


— 


S 


P 


C 


54.7 


P 


1962 


S 


P 


B 


23.2 


P 


1970 


S 


P 


A 


11.4 


E 


— 


S 


P 


B 


25.2 


E 


— 


S 


P 


B 


29.5 


P 


1955 


s/u 


P 


B 


36.1 


P 


1959 


u 


O 


A 


10.6 


E 


— 


s 


M 


A 


6.1 


E 


— 


s/u 


O 


A 


9.5 


P 


1930 


u 


M 


A 


8.6 


P 


1970 


u 


M 


A 


8.7 


E 


— 


s 


P 


C 


46.5 


P 


1957 


u 


M 


A 


25.7 


P 


1972 


s 


P 


B 


37.7 


P 


1971 


u 





A 


20.0 


P 


1966 


s 


P 


A 


14.8 


E 


— 


u 





A 


9.0 


P 


1957 


u 


M 


A 


7.1 


E 


— 


u 


P 


A 


8.7 


P 


1961 


s 


P 


A 


18.8 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


13.6 


P 


1971 


s 


P 


B 


48.9 


E 


— 


s 


M 


A 


16.8 


P 


1966 


u 


M 


D 


111.1 


P 


1964 


u 


M 


A 


10.6 


P 


1972 


s 


P 


C 


86.8 


E 


— 


8 


P 


A 


13.3 


P 


1954 


u 





A 


14.3 


E 


— 


s 


P 


B 


14.0 


P 


1973 


u 


M 


A 


41.6 


P 


1980 


s 


P 


A 


4.9 


E 


— 


s 


P 


C 


29.2 


P 


1925 


s 


P 


B 


23.8 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


15.7 


E 


— 


s 


P 


B 


39.6 


P 


1976 


u 





A 


12.3 


D 


1984 


s 


P 


E 


126.8 


E 





u 





A 


8.9 


P 


1899 


3 


p 


G 


149.6 


E 


— 


s 


p 


E 


150.1 


P 


1980 


8 


p 


E 


139.2 


E 


— 


8 


p 


A 


25.8 


E 


— 


8 


p 


D 


77.0 


E 




s/u 





C 


109.S 


E 


— 


u 


M 


B 


21.5 


E 


— 


u 


P 


A 


12.4 


E 


— 


s 


P 


C 


29.4 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


1.3 


P 


1906 


s 


P 


C 


51.7 


P 


1961 


8 


P 


A 


8.0 


E 


— 


U 


P 


' E 


87.2 


P 


1905 


8/U 


P 


B 


12.7 


E 


— 


s 


P 


B 


25.1 


P 


1975 


S 


P 


A 


4.6 


E 


— 


S 


P 


A 


7.9 


P 


1959 


s 


P 


A 


8.8 


E 


— 


s 


P 


D 


57.2 


E 





s 


P 


C 


34.4 


E 





s 


P 


A 


5.5 


P 


1915 


s 





B 


43.0 


P 


1976 


U 


p 


A 


40.6 


P 


1907 


u 


8 


A 


36.8 


P 


1975 


s 


P 


D 


50.9 



Canada: 

Atton 

Bell Copper 

Berg 

Bethelem-JA Zone 

Brenda 

Casino 

Catface 

Copper Mountain-Needle 

Mountain. 

Copper Rand 

Coppermine River 

Detour Project 

Flin Flon 

Fox 

Galore Creek 

Geco 

Gibraltar 

Granduc 

Granisle 

Great Lakes Nickel 

Heath Steel (Little River JV) . 

High Lake 

Highmont 

Huckleberry Mountain 

Island Copper 

Izok Lake 

Kidd Creek 

Lake Dufault Division 

Lornox 

Maggie 

Opemiska Division 

Poison Mountain 

Ruttan 

SamGoosly 

Shaft Creek 

Similkameen 

Summer Creek 

Sustut 

Thierry 

Valley Copper 

Mexico: 

Arroyos Azules 

Cananea 

El Arco 

La Caridad 

La Verde 

Santo Tomas 

United States: 
Alaska: 

Arctic Camp 

Bornite 

Brady Glacier 

Orange Hill-Bond Creek . . 

Yakobi Island 

Arizona: 

Bagdad 

Bluebird 

Casa Grande 

Christmas 

Copper Basin 

Cyprus Johnson 

Dubacher Canyon 

Esperanza 

Florence Conoco 

Helvetia East 

Helvetia West 

Inspiration 

Lakeshore 

Magma (Superior) 

Metcalf 



Teck Corp.-lso Mines Ltd 

Noranda Mines Ltd 

Kennco Explorations (Western). 

Bethlehem Copper Ltd 

Brenda Mines-Noranda 

Casino Mining Co 

Falconbridge-Catface Copper . . 
Mines Gaspe-Noranda 



Patino Mines 

Coppermine River Ltd 

Seico Mining Corp. Ltd 

Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. 

Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd 

Stikine Copper Ltd 

Noranda Mines Ltd 

Gibraltar Mines Ltd 

Granduc Mines-Esso Resources 

Noranda Mines Ltd 

Boliden Canada Ltd 

Heath Steel Mines Ltd.-Noranda-Asaroo . 

Kennarctic Explorations 

Highmont Mining Corp 

Kennco Explorations Ltd 

Utah Mines Ltd 

Texasgulf Inc 

do.. 



Falconbridge Copper Ltd 

Lornex Mining Corp. Ltd 

Bethlehem Copper Ltd 

Falconbridge Copper Ltd 

Long Lac Copper Giant 

Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd 

Equity Mining-Placer Development . 

Teck Corp.-Liard Copper Mines 

New^mont Mining Corp 

Global Energy Corp 

Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd 

Union Miniere S.A 

ComincoLtd 



Comision de Fomento Minero 

Industrial Miners Mexico 

Industrial Miners Mexico-Asarco 

Mexicana del Cobre 

Compania Cuprifera la Verde 

Industrial Miners Penoles 



Bear Creek Mining Co. (subsidiary of Kennecott Minerals Co.). 

....do 

Newmont Mining Corp 

Bear Creek Mining Co. (subsidiary of Kennecott) 

Inspiration Development Co 



Cyprus Mines Corp. (subsidiary of AMOCO Metals Co.) . 

Ranchers Exploration and Development 

Casa Grande Copper Co 

Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co 

Phelps Dodge Corp 

Cypnjs Mines Corp. (subsidiary of AMOCO Metals Co.) . 

Occidental Mineral Corp 

Duval Corp. (subsidiary of Pennzoil) 

Continental Oil (Minerals Division) 

Anamax Mining Co 

Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co 

....do 

Noranda Mines Ltd 

Msgms Copper Corp 

Phelps Dodge Corp 



See explsnatory notes at end of table. 



recoverable from market economy countries. Nearly 60 
pet of the resource occurs in the 15 mines that were 
producing at the time of the study. Chilean deposits 
contain an estimated 86 million tons of recoverable 
copper, which is nearly 70 pet of the region's total. Peru 
has resources estimated at 22 million tons of recoverable 
copper, or 17 pet of the region's total, while Panama and 



Argentina have resources of 9 and 6 million tons, 
respectively. 

Chile has the largest recoverable copper resources of ail 
the market economy countries. (U.S. resources of in-place 
material are 20 pet larger than those of Chile, but Chile, 
because of a much higher average ore grade and higher 
mining and/or processing recoveries, exceeds the United 



Table 6.— Descriptive Information for Individual North American copper deposits — Continued 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 



Status' 



Year of 

first Mining 
produc- type^ 

tion^ 



Capacity,^ 

°®°" Coonfir thousand 

'°9'=!' reSirce^ ™'"'= 
type" resource ,Q^g ^^pp^^ 

per year 



United States — Continued: 
Arizona — Continued 

Miami East 

Miami Leach 

Mineral Parl< 

Mission-San Xavler 

Morenci 

New Cornelia 

Oracle Ridge 

Ox Hide 

Palo Verde 

Peacocl< 

Pima 

Pinto Valley 

Ray 

Red Mountain 

Sacaton 

Safford Inspiration 

Safford Kennecott 

Safford Phelps Dodge . . . 

San Manuel-Kalamazoo . 

Sierrita 

Silver Bell 

Twin Buttes 

Van Dyke 

Vekol Hills 

California; 

Lights Creek 

Walker 

Michigan: 

Presque Isle Syncline 

White Pine 

Minnesota: 

Ely Spruce 

Minnamax 

Montana: 

Butte Copper 

Heddleston 

Stillwater 

Troy 

Nevada: 

New Ruth 

Victoria 

Yerrington 

New Mexico: 

Chino 

Continental Surface 

Continental Underground. 

Copper Flat 

Nacimiento 

Pinos Altos 

Tyrone 

Tennessee: Copper Hill 

Utah: 

Bingham 

Carr Fork 

Washington: Sunrise 

Wisconsin: 

Crandon 

Flambeau 

Pelican River 

Wyoming: Kinwin 



Cities Services Co 

....do 

Duval Corp. (subsidiary of Pennzoil) . 

Asarco Incorporated 

Phelps Dodge Corp 

.do. 



Continental Copper Co. (subsidiary of Union Oil) 

Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co 

Anamax Mining Co 

Producers Mineral Corp 

Cyprus Mines Corp. (subsidiary of AMOCO Metals Co.) . 

Cities Services Co 

Kennecott Minerals (subsidiary of Standard Oil of Ohio) . 

Kerr-McGee Corp 

ASARCO Incorporated 

Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co 

Kennecott Minerals (subsidiary of Standard Oil of Ohio) . 

Phelps Dodge Corp 

Magma Copper Ltd 

Duval Sierrita (subsidiary of Pennzoil) 

ASARCO Incorporated 

Anamax Mining Co 

Occidental Minerals Corp 

Newmont Mining Corp 



Placer Amex Inc. 
Calicopia Corp. . 



AMAXInc 

Copper Range Co. 



International Nickel Co. 
AMAXInc 



Anaconda Co. (subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co.) . 

....do 

....do 

ASARCO Incorporated 



Kennecott Minerals (subsidiary of Standard Oil of Ohio) . 

Day Mines Inc 

Anaconda Co. (subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co.) 



Kennecott Minerals (subsidiary of Standard Oil of Ohio) 

U.V. Industries Inc 

...do 

Quintana Minerals Corporation-Philbro Mineral Enterprises 

Earth Resources Co 

Exxon Minerals Co 

Phelps Dodge Corp 

Cities Services Co 



Kennecott Minerals (subsidiary of Standard Oil of Ohio) . 

Anaconda Co. (subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co.) 

International Brenmac Development Corp 



Exxon Mineral Co 

Flambeau Minerals Corp. (subsidiary of Kennecott) . 

Noranda Mines Ltd 

AMAXInc 



1909 
1965 
1961 
1942 
1917 

1968 
1979 

1957 
1943 
1911 



1955 
1970 
1954 
1969 



1953 



1982 

1970 
1974 
1953 

1912 
1968 
1968 
1982 



1970 
1941 



1872 
1979 



U 
S 
S 
S 
S 
S 
U 
S 
S 
S 
S 
S 
S 
U 

S/U 
S 

s 

u 
u 
s 

S 
S 
S 
S 

s 
u 

u 
u 

s 
u 

S/U 

s 
s 

u 

s 
u 
s 

s 
s 
u 
s 
s 
s 
s 
s/u 

s 
u 
u 

u 

s/u 
u 
s 



24.5 

5.3 

14.0 

38.7 

100.2 

43.8 

9.8 

4.3 

23.7 

6.5 

68.6 

82.8 

63.5 

42.8 

22.8 

20.7 

21.9 

116.0 

112.6 

85.0 

18.4 

67.2 

8.0 

28.3 

27.3 
3.5 

30.6 
80.0 

48.0 
52.0 

81.2 
16.4 
18.0 
16.4 

2.1 

5.9 

20.7 

48.8 

10.3 

12.5 

14.9 

1.4 

9.8 

91.0 

4.1 

250.8 

49.5 

7.8 

30.9 
9.2 
3.2 

25.6 



' Status: D — developing or scheduled for development in near future; E — explored deposit, no immediate plans for production; P — producing at the time of the study 
(includes those temporanly shut down). 

^ Dash indicates no known production startup date; where a date later than 1 982 is given, production was forecast to start that year. 

^ Mining type: S — surface; U — underground. For explored deposits, mining type is proposed based on geology and technology. 

" Geological type: P — porphyry, includes disseminated, stockwork, and skarn; S — stratabound sedimentary; M — massive sulfide including volcanogenic deposits; 
O — other types. 

* Copper resource (thousand tons of contained copper): A— <500; B— 501-1.000; C— 1 ,001-2,000; D— 2,001-3,000; E— 3,001-5,000: F— 5,001-10,000; 
G— >10,000. 

* Average annual recoverable copper capacity over the life of the mine. For explored deposits, the capacity is the proposed capacity for this evaluation. 



States in recoverable copper.) Nearly 90 pet of Chile's 
copper resources are controlled through the state copper 
mining company, Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de 
Chile (CODELCO-Chile). 

Average ore grades for Central and South American 
deposits range from 1.38 pet Cu for the three Brazilian 
deposits to 0.56 pet Cu for the Argentinean deposits. 



Chilean deposits average 0.97 pet Cu, which is nearly 1.5 
times greater than the average grade for U.S. deposits. 
The grade for producing surface mines in Chile averages 
1.02 pet Cu compared with only 0.67 pet Cu in the United 
States; nonproducing surface deposits in Chile average 
0.84 pet Cu compared with the U.S. average of 0.42 pet Cu. 
Chile has expanded production capabilities for its 



10 



Table 7.— Descriptive Information for individual Central and South American copper deposits 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 



Year of 

Status' '"f 
produc- 
tion^ 



Capacity,^ 

fi i_ A resource . 

type' '=~"'>->' tons copper 

per year 



type'^ 



Argentina: 

Bajo La Alumbrera Yacimientos Aqua del Dionisio E 

El Paction Cia. Minera Aguilar S.A D 

Parannillo Sur Fabricaciones Militares E 

Brazil: 

Camaqua Fibase E 

Caraiba Caralbas Metais S.A D 

Pedra Verde Promisa-Caraibas Metais S.A E 

Chile: 

Andacollo Enami E 

Andina CODELCO-Chlle P 

Cerro Colorado Cerro Colorado Mine Development Co E 

Chuquicamata CODELCO-Chile P 

El Abra do E 

El Salvador do P 

El Soldado (Disputada) Exxon Minerals Co P 

El Teniente CODELCO-Chile P 

Escondida Utah International-Getty Oil E 

Lo Aguirre Soc. Minera Pudahuel P 

Los Bronces Exxon Minerals Co.-Private P 

Los Pelambres Anaconda Co. Division of Arco D 

Mantos Blancos Empresas Sudamericana Consol P 

Mina Sur (La Exotica) CODELCO-Chile P 

Pampa Norte do E 

Portrerilios do E 

Quebrada Blanca Chilean Govemment-Cia. Exploradora Dona Ines D 

Sagasca Soc. Minera Pudahuel P 

Panama: 

Cerro Colorado Empresa de Cobre Cerro Colorado S.A D 

Cerro Petaquilla Panamanian Government E 

Peru: 

Antamina Minero Peru E 

Berenguela do E 

Cerro Verde-Santa Rosa do P 

Cobriza Centromin .' P 

Coroccohuayco Minero Peru E 

Cuajone Southern Peru Copper Corp.-Billlton Nv P 

El Aguila Empresa Minera el Aguila P 

Michiquillay Minero Penj-Michiquillay Copper Corp E 

Quellaveco Minero Peru E 

Tintaya do D 

Toquepala Southern Peru Copper Corp P 

Toromocho Centromin E 



1986 



1982 



1970 

1915 

1959 
1842 
1906 

1980 
1925 
1986 
1961 
1970 



1986 
1970 



1977 
1967 



1976 
1978 



1984 
1960 



S P 

S/U O 

U P 



58.5 
89.8 
49.5 

11.6 

51.5 

7,3 

73.8 

65.8 

20.3 

437.9 

118.3 

87.4 

15.6 

380.4 

213.8 

11.2 

143.2 

100.7 

23.1 

40.1 

45.2 

14.1 

83.2 

11.2 

172.2 
32.4 

122.6 
11.1 
82.8 
35.8 
15.3 

115.1 
11.1 
81.6 
84.7 
38.3 

104.4 

100.7 



' Status: D — developing or scheduled for development in near future; E — explored deposit, no immediate plans for production; P — producing at the time of the study 
(includes those temporanly shut down). 

' Dash indicates no l<nown production startup date; where a date later than 1982 is given, production was forecast to start that year. 

^ Mining type: S— surface; U — underground. For explored deposits, mining type is proposed based on geology and technology. 

' Geological type: P — porphyry, includes disseminated, stockwork, and skam; S — stratat>ound sedimentary; M— massive sulfide including volcanogenic deposits; 
O — other ^pes. 

5 Copper resource (thousand tons of contained copper): A— <500; B— 501-1 ,000; C— 1,001-2,000; D— 2,001-3,000; E— 3,001-5,000; F— 5,001-10,000; 
G—> 10,000. 

° Average annual recoverable copper capacity over the life of the mine. For explored deposits, the capacity is the proposed capacity for this evaluation. 



producing mines, and plans to continue this expansion, in 
order to maintain its output of refined copper in the face of 
falling ore grades. As part of Chile's plan to double copper 
output by 1990, the Chilean Copper Commission recently 
announced that during the 1980's CODELCO-Chile will 
annually invest $250 to $300 million in the Andina, 
Chuquicamata, El Salvador, and El Teniente Mines. This 
represents a total investment of $2.5 to $3 billion for 
CODELCO's existing operations, which may be one 
reason CODELCO has put many of its imdeveloped 
deposits up for international bid in recent years. The 
Government plans to enact new legislation allowing 
private companies to develop large new copper deposits, 
but plans are for the state to retain control ovg r existing 
mines (11). Chilean deposits targeted for development 
during the 1980's are Andacollo, El Abra, La Escondida, 
Los Bronces, Los Pelambres, and Quebrada Blanca. These 
deposits are expected to have a combined output potential 
of 765,000 tons of copper per year. 

The Tintaya, Peru, deposit, with proven reserves of 34 
million tons and an estimated life of 14 years, is expected 



to come on-stream in 1984. It is estimated that develop- 
ment costs for the 8,000-ton/d operation, including 
working capital and interest during construction, will 
total $300 million (4). Although Peru has several other 
copper deposits awaiting development, private capital, 
including foreign capital, is needed to bring them into 
production. Priority for investment is being given to the 
Antamina, Tambo Grande, and Toromocho deposits (13, 
17). 

Other regional projects scheduled for production include 
the Caraiba in Brazil, Cerro Colorado in Panama, and El 
Pachon in Argentina. The Caraiba project was originally 
scheduled to begin production in 1980, but because of high 
costs and problems in importing equipment, startup was 
expected to be delayed until 1982. The $1.2 billion 
operation is expected to reach a production capacity of 
125,000 tons of contained copper in 1984 (9). Ore reserves 
at the Cerro Colorado, Panama, deposit are estimated at 
1.3 billion tons, these reserves are graded at 0.78 pet Cu 
and 0.015 pet Mo and contain significant gold and silver 
values. The cost of the project, which is expected to 



11 



produce from 150,000 to 200,000 tons of copper in 
concentrate per year, is now estimated at $2 billion. Rio 
Tinto Zinc Corp., Ltd., which has a 40-pct interest in the 
project, recently stated that the earliest possible startup 
date would be 1987 and that the equivalent of $1.10/lb to 
$1.20/lb of copper (at 1980 prices) would be required to 
make the operation economic (10). Production from the El 
Pachon, Argentina, deposit is scheduled to begin in 1986. 
The deposit has ore reserves of 800 million tons (0.71 pet 
Cu, 0.016 pet Mo, and 0.1 oz/ton Ag), and the production 
goal is 100,000 tons of copper per year. The investment 
required to develop El Pachon, once estimated at about 
$1.2 billion (32), is now expected to total $1.8 billion. 

Twenty-five Central and South American deposits have 
resources of greater than 1 million tons of contained 
copper each. Together these 25 deposits account for more 
than 95 pet of the region's recoverable copper. Generally, 
the largest deposits in Central and South America contain 
more copper than the largest deposits in the United 
States; for example, the 12 largest deposits in Chile 
average 6.6 million tons of recoverable copper per deposit, 
whereas the 12 largest deposits in the United States 
average only 3.1 million tons. 



EUROPE 



of all the regions. This is due to the large-tonnage, 
low-grade Yugoslavian deposits and the fact that the 
Spanish deposits are coproduct or byproduct operations. 

The European deposits are also small; only 4 of the 17 
deposits analyzed have ore bodies containing more than 1 
million tons of copper each. These four are the Aitik Mine, 
a producing surface mine in Sweden; the Aljustrel Mine, a 
producing underground mine in Portugal; and two surface 
deposits in Yugoslavia, the Majdanpek (a producing mine) 
and the Veliki Krivelj (which is scheduled for production 
in 1985). 

Three European deposits are expected to begin produc- 
tion in the near future. The Neves-Corvo, Portugal, 
deposit is scheduled to begin operation in early 1986. 
Initial annual production of copper concentrate is pro- 
jected at 50,000 tons. An investment of about $160 million 
is planned (20). The Veliki Krivelj, Yugoslavia, deposit 
has reserves estimated at 700 million tons of ore, with a 
copper grade of 0.41 pet. The $370 million project has a 
planned capacity of 28,000 tons of copper per year (8,21). 
Scheduled to begin production in 1983, the Viscara, 
Sweden, deposit has published reserves estimated at 50 
million tons of ore graded at 1.9 pet Cu. However, 
feasibility study has indicated that only 50 pet of the 
reserves are recoverable (35). 



Seventeen European deposits were evaluated (table 8). 
Europe's copper resources are smaller than those of all the 
other regions except the Middle East and western Asia. 
Estimated recoverable copper totals 11 million tons, or 
only 3 pet of that available from market economy 
countries. Nearly 70 pet of the resource exists in mines 
producing at the time of the study. Averaging only 0.59 
pet Cu, ore grades of the European deposits are the lowest 



MIDDLE EAST AND 
WESTERN ASIA 

Copper resources for this, the smallest of all the regions, 
are estimated at only 10 million tons of recoverable 
copper, or 3 pet of that available from market economy 
countries. Of the 17 deposits evaluated (table 9), 8 were 
producing at the time of the study; these 8 deposits 



Table 8. — Descriptive information for Individual European copper deposits 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 



Status' 



Year of 
first 

produc- 
tion^ 



Mining 
type^ 



Geo- 
logical 
type" 



Copper 
resource^ 



Capacity,^ 

thousand 

metric 

tons copper 
per year 



Finland: 

Keretti Outokumpu Oy 

Pyhasalmi do 

Vuonos do 

Nonway: Tverrfjeilet Folldal Verk A/S 

Portugal: 

Aljustrel Empresa l^ineira e l^etalurgicado do Alentejo E. P.. 

Neves-Corvo Emma-BRGM and Penarroya Sociedade Mineira 

Neves Corvo SARR. 
Spain: 

Aznalcollar Sociedad Andaluza de Piritas 

Cerro Colorado Rio Tinto Patino S.A 

Santiago do 

Sotiel Minas de Almagreras S.A 

Sweden: 

Aitik Boliden Metall AB 

Stekenjokk do 

Viscaria Luossavaara-Kiyrunauaara AB 

Yugoslavia: 

Bor RTB Bor 

Bucim Bucim Rudnik Za Bakar 

Majdanpek RTB Bor 

Veliki Krivelj do 



1957 
1962 
1972 
1968 

1892 
1986 



1968 S 
1975 U 
1983 S 



1979 S M 

1873 S/U M 

1975 S M 

— U O 



1903 S/U P 

1978 S P 

1965 S P 

1983 S P 



12.3 
6.8 

11.2 
5.7 

8.6 
43.1 



13.4 

32.3 

7.9 

2.6 

36.8 
6.6 

17.1 

33.8 
27.6 
70.1 
57.1 



' Status: D — developing or scheduled for development in near future: E — explored deposit, no immediate plans for production : P — producing at the time of the study 
(Includes those temporarily shut dow/n) 

' Dash indicates no known production startup date: where a date later than 1982 is given, production was forecast to start that year. 

' Mining type: S— surface: U — underground. For explored deposits, mining type is proposed based on geology and technology. 

" Geological type: P — porphyry, includes disseminated, stockwork, and skarn: S — stratabound sedimentary: M — massive sulfide including volcanogenic deposits; 
O — other types. 

^ Copper resource (thousand tons of contained copper): A— <500; B— 501-1,000: C— 1,001-2.000: D— 2.001-3,000: E— 3,001-5,000: F— 5,001-10.000; 
G— >10,000 

' Average annual recoverable copper capacity over the life of the mine. For explored deposits, the capacity is the proposed capacity for this evaluation. 



12 



Table 9.— Descriptive information for indlviduai IMiddie East and western Asia copper deposits 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 



Year of 

Status' ^'"f '^'"'f 
produc- type^ 

tion^ 



Capacity,^ 

^s°" ronnpr thousand 

logical resource^ '"^'"^ 
type" '^esource j^^^g ^^^^^ 

per year 



India: 

Ambaji Gujarat Mineral Development 

Khetri-Kolihan-Chandamri Hindustan Copper Ltd 

Malanjkhand do 

Mosaboni do 

Rakha do 

Surda-Pathagora-Kendadih do 

Iran: Sar Cheshmeh National Iranian Copper 

Israel: Timna Israel Chemical Ltd. (Government) 

Jordan: Wadi Dana Jordan National Res. Auth 

Oman: Wadi Jiza Oman Mining Co 

Pakistan: Saindak Resource Development Corp 

Saudi Arabia: Jabal Sayid Saudi Arabian Government 

Turkey: 

Cayeli Etibank 

Ergani-Madeni do 

Espiye Etibank-Black Sea Copper Works Corp. 

Murgul do 

Siirt Turkish Government 



1973 

1965 
1919 
1975 
1983 
1959 

1982 
1985 



— U 
1980 S 
1980 S 
1972 S 

— U 



3.2 
19.5 
22.0 
13.2 

•15.2 
14.8 

136.5 
4.2 
29.2 
17.8 
12.9 
15.6 

12.5 
7.2 
7.2 

30.6 
9.8 



' Status: D — developing or scheduled for development in near future; E^ — explored deposit, no immediate plans for production; P — producing at the time of the study 
(includes those temporarily shut down). 

^ Dash indicates no known production startup date; where a date later than 1982 is given, production was forecast to start that year. 

^ Mining type: S— surface; U — underground. For explored deposits, mining type is proposed based on geology and technology. 

' Geological type: P — porphyry, includes disseminated, stockwork, and skarn; S — stratabound sedimentary; M — massive sulfide including volcanogenic deposits; 
— other types. 

= Copper resource (thousand tons of contained copper): A— <500; B— 501-1,000; C — 1,001-2,000; D— 2,001-3,000; E— 3,001-5,000; F— 5,001-10,000; 
G—>1 0,000. 

^ Average annual recoverable copper capacity over the life of the mine. For explored deposits, the capacity is the proposed capacity for this evaluation. 



account for less than 25 pet of the region's recoverable 
copper. Copper grades are higher than in most other areas 
of the world, averaging 1.26 pet in India, 1.91 pet in 
Turkey, and 1.04 pet for the region. 

Only two deposits in the region have resources 
containing more than 1 million tons of copper each. The 
Sar Cheshmen deposit in Iran, the largest in the region, 
contains over 5 million tons of copper. Most of the 
infrastructure requirements for this deposit were com- 
pleted by the end of 1978, and ore production had begun. 
But because of the Iranian revolution, foreign personnel 
were withdrawn and work was suspended until December 
1981, when production resumed. The Saindak deposit in 
Pakistan, the region's other large deposit, has proven 
copper resources of 374 million tons at an average copper 
grade of 0.37 pet. The project is scheduled to begin 
production in 1984 at an estimated cost of more than $300 
million (33). Estimated to cost $120 million, the Wadi Jiza 
deposit in Oman began production in 1982 (7). 



EASTERN ASIA 
AND OCEANIA 

Recoverable copper resources from eastern Asia and 
Oceania are estimated at 35 million tons, or 11 pet of the 
total available from market economy countries. Three 
countries, Australia, the Philippines, and Papua New 
Guinea account for over 90 pet of the region's resources. 
As shown in table 10, 48 of the region's deposits were 
evaluated. Thirteen deposits have resources of more than 
1 million tons of contained copper each; together they 
account for over 75 pet of the region's recoverable copper. 
Average ore grades vary greatly from country to country, 
ranging from a high of 1.77 pet Cu for the Australian 
deposits to 0.50 pet Cu in Papua New Guinea and 0.48 pet 
Cu in the Philippines. 



Several deposits in the region are being developed or are 
targeted for development in the near future. The largest of 
these, the OK Tedi deposit in Papua New Guinea, is 
currently being developed. Three stages of mining are 
planned; phase 1, scheduled to begin in 1984, will involve 
mining of the gold cap ore; in phase 2, scheduled for 
mid-1986, copper and gold ore will be mined; in phase 3, 
scheduled for 1989, copper production will be doubled and 
gold production will be converted to copper production, 
effectively tripling copper output. The project is estimated 
to cost as much as $2 billion (16). 

Construction problems and bad weather have delayed 
startup of the Amacan (North Davao) deposit in the 
Philippines until mid-1982. The original estimated cost of 
$100 million has been increased to $175 million. Planned 
capacity is 30,000 tons per day ore (18). Construction is 
expected to begin soon on the Hinobaan, Philippines, 
project, and a 1984 production startup is planned. 
Published reserves are estimated at 98 million tons of ore 
graded at 0.5 pet Cu. 

A feasibility study is expected to be completed on the 
Golden Grove, Australia, deposit by 1983, with production 
possibly beginning in 1986. A partnership of four 
companies, the project comprises two combined deposits. 
Gossan Hill and Scuddles. Besides copper, significant 
quantities of lead, silver, and zinc are present. 

Development is ahead of schedule for the Monywa, 
Burma, deposit; production was scheduled to begin in 
1982. Planned mine capacity has been increased to 12,000 
tons of ore per day. A proposal to build a smelter on-site 
for $30 million is being considered (34). 



AFRICA 

Copper resources from African deposits are estimated at 
45 million tons of recoverable copper, or 14 pet of those 



13 



Table 10. — Descriptive information for individual eastern Asia and Oceania copper deposits 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 





Year of 








Capacity.^ 


atus' 


first 

produc- 

tion= 


type^ 


Geo- 
logical 
type" 


Copper 
resource^ 


tfiousand 

metric 

tons copper 

per year 


E 




U 





A 


14.4 


P 


1907 


U 





A 


10.8 


b 


— 


S 





A 


3.5 


E 


— 


U 





A 


7.0 


U 


1986 


U 


M 


A 


25.5 


P 


1927 


S 





A 


3.4 


h 


— 


U 





A 


5.3 


t 


— 


S 


S 


A 


6.6 


b 


— 


S 


M 


A 


11.7 


P 


1931 


U 


M 


F 


135.5 


P 


1935 


U 


M 


A 


17.5 


b 


— 


U 





F 


80.2 


P 


1953 


U 





A 


19.3 


P 


1979 


U 


M 


A 


6.5 


P 


1979 


S 





A 


7.3 


D 


1987 


S 


P 


A 


17.1 


b 


— 


S 


P 


E 


57.8 


P 


1972 


u 


P 


C 


63.9 


P 


1973 


u 


M 


B 


16.8 


P 


1898 


u 


M 


A 


6.5 


P 


1975 


s 


P 


A 


14.2 


P 


1972 


s 


P 


D 


130.5 


b 


— 


s 


P 


E 


82.7 


D 


1984 


s 


P 


D 


85.7 


E 


- 


s 


P 


C 


70.3 


D 


1982 


s 


P 


B 


23.3 


P 


1979 


s 


P 


C 


25.1 


E 





u 


P 


B 


14.1 


P 


1962 


s 


P 


B 


38.8 


P 


1969 


u 


P 


A 


8.9 


P 


1974 


s 


P 


A 


19.5 


P 


1977 


s 


P 


C 


61.1 


P 


1980 


s 


P 


A 


22.8 


D 


1984 


s 


P 


A 


28.3 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


15.8 


P 


1978 


s 


P 


A 


21.2 


P 


1865 


u 


P 


A 


14.6 


P 


1966 


u 


P 


C 


47.1 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


6.9 


P 


1979 


s 


P 


A 


17.4 


E 


— 


s 


P 


C 


61.1 


P 


1972 


u 


P 


A 


5.1 


P 


1957 


u 


P 


B 


27.4 


P 


1936 


s 


P 


E 


44.8 


P 


1969 


s 


P 


B 


43.4 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


5.0 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


21.7 


E 


— 


s 


P 


A 


10.0 



Australia: 

Benambra 

C.S.A 

Cadia 

Chesney 

Golden Grove 

Gunpowder (Mammotfi) . . 

Kanmantoo 

Lady Annie 

Mons Cupri-Wtiim Creek. 

Mount Isa 

Mount Lyell 

Roxby Downs 

Tennant Creek 

Teutonic Bore 

Woodlawn 

Burma: Monywa 

Fiji: Namosi 

Indonesia: Ertsberg 

Japan: 

Hanaoka 

Kosaka 

Malaysia: Mamut 

Papua New Guinea: 

Bougainville 

Freida River 

OK Tedi 



Western Mining-British Petroleum 

Conzinc Riotinto Australia Ltd 

Pacific Copper Ltd.-Estel NV Hoescfi 

Conzinc Riotinto Australia Ltd 

Esso-Amax (Australia)-EZ Industries-Aztec 

Gunpowder Copper Joint Venture 

Conzinc Riotinto Australia Ltd 

Traiko Mines-Mount Isa Mines Ltd 

Wfiim Creek-Texasgulf 

Mount Isa Mines Ltd 

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway 

Western Mining - Britisfi Petroleum 

Peko Wallsend Ltd 

Seltrust-Mount Isa Mines Ltd 

St. Joe-Pfielps Dodge-Conzinc 

Burma Government 

Viti Copper Ltd 

Freeport Indonesia Inc 



Yandera 

Philippines: 
Amacan (North Davao) 
Basay 



Dowa Mining Co. Ltd 

....do 

Overseas Mineral Resource Development 

Papua New Guinea Government-CRA-Public-Panguna. . . 

Conzinc Rio Algom 

Papua New Guinea Government-Metallgesellschaft-BHP- 

AMOCO Metals Co. 
Triaco-Buka-Broken Hill 



Batong-Buhay . . 

Biga (Atlas) 

Black Mountain . 
Boneng-Lobo . . . 
Carmen (Atlas) . . 

Dizon 

Hinobaan 

Inayawan 

Ino-Capayang. . . 

Lepanto 

Lutopan (Atlas). . 
Mapula-Masara . 

Sabena 

San Antonio . . . . 

Santo Nino 

Santo Tomas . . . 

Sipalay 

Tapian 

Tawi-Tawi 

Taysan 

Trident (Sulat) . . 



North Davao-Private 

Southern Star Mining and Industrial Corporation-Construction 
and Development Corporation of the Philippines. 

Development Bank of Philippines 

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp 

Various claim holders 

Western Minoico Corp 

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp 

Benquet Corp 

Lepanto Consolidated Mining-Philippine Government 

Denmag (Philippines) Inc 

Consolidated Mines Inc 

Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. Inc 

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp 

Apex Mining Co 

Sabena Mining Corp 

Philippine Government 

Baguio Gold Mining Co., Inc 

Philex Mining Corp 

Marinduque Mining and Industrial Corp 

Philippine Government 

Benquet Corp 

....do 

Trident Mining and Industrial Co 



' Status: D — developing or scheduled for development in near future: E — explored deposit, no immediate plans for production ; P — producing at the time of the study 
(includes those temporarily shut down). 

^ Dash indicates no known production startup date: where a date later than 1 982 is given, production was forecast to start that year. 

^ Mining type: S— surface; U — underground. For explored deposits, mining type is proposed based on geology and technology. 

■■ Geological type: P — porphyry, includes disseminated, stockwork, and skarn; S — stratabound sedimentary: M — massive sulfide including volcanogenic deposits; 
O— other types. 

* Copper resource (thousand tons of contained copper): A— <500; B— 501-1 ,000; C— 1 ,001-2,000; D— 2,001-3,000; E— 3,001-5,000; F— 5,001-10,000; 
G—> 10,000. 

° Average annual recoverable copper capacity over the life of the mine. For explored deposits, the capacity is the proposed capacity for this evaluation. 



available from market economy countries. Thirty-five 
deposits were analyzed (table 11). Ninety percent of 
Africa's copper resources are from mines producing at the 
time of the study; only six of the deposits analyzed were 
not producing. Zaire and Zambia account for nearly 90 pet 
of the region's resources; Zaire has an estimated 21 
million tons of recoverable copper and Zambia has 19 
million tons. 

Of the 10 Zambian deposits analyzed, three, the 
Chingola, Konkola, and Rokana, are operating copper 
divisions. Each of the divisions, owned by Zambia 
Consolidated Copper Mines, Ltd., is composed of multiple 



ore bodies and mines. The mines for each of the divisions 
are combined for analysis in this report. 

Copper grades for the African deposits are among the 
highest in the world. For the region, copper grades 
average 2.77 pet; this is nearly three and one-half times 
greater than the average for all the deposits studied. The 9 
Zairian deposits, 8 of which were producing, have an 
average grade of 4.01 pet Cu; the 10 Zambian deposits, 9 of 
which are producing average 3.04 pet Cu. The high ore 
grade in these countries is due to the fact that the deposits 
occur as massive sulfides in sediments (as compared to 
lower grades associated with disseminated prophyry 



14 



Table 11. — Descriptive information for individual African copper deposits 



Country and deposit name 



Ownership 





Year of 








Capacity,* 


atus' 


first 

produc- 

tion^ 


Minina 
type*^ 


Geo- 
logical 
type" 


Copper 
resource* 


thousand 

metric 

tons copper 

per year 


P 


1974 


U 





A 


13.9 


E 


— 


S 


S 


A 


23.4 


P 


1977 


U 





A 


15.6 


P 


1966 


U 


s 


A 


4.2 


P 


1965 


U 





A 


9.0 


E 


— 


U 





A 


12.4 


P 


1900 


U 


M 


A 


7.6 


E 





U 


M 


A 


18.0 


P 


1980 


U 


M 


A 


5.4 


P 


1906 


U 





A 


7.1 


P 


1965 


U 


O 


A 


23.8 


P 


1965 


S 


P 


D 


116.7 


P 


1973 


U 


M 


A 


23.5 


E 


— 


S 





A 


22.5 


D 


1983 


U 





A 


10.2 


P 


1975 


S 


s 


F 


122.8 


P 


1930 


s/u 


s 


B 


14.0 


P 


1926 


u 


s 


B 


37.7 


P 


1972 


u 


s 


F 


103.5 


P 


1926 


u 





C 


21.6 


P 


1956 


s 


s 


F 


219,5 


P 


1972 


u 


s 


C 


37.1 


P 


1945 


s 


s 


A 


24.8 


E 


— 


s 


s 


F 


82.2 


P 


1973 


u 


s 


C 


57.2 


P 


1965 


u 


s 


C 


40.2 


P 


1965 


u 


s 


C 


20.0 


P 


1965 


s/u 


s 


F 


267.5 


E 


— 


u 


s 


A 


14.0 


P 


1978 


s/u 


s 


A 


3.9 


P 


1957 


u 


s 


F 


44.3 


P 


1931 


u 


s 


C 


44.5 


P 


1933 


u 


s 


F 


121.0 


P 


1919 


s/u 


s 


E 


66.6 



Botswana: Selebi-Phikwe BCL Ltd 

Mauritania: Akjoujt Societe Nationale Industrielle et MIniere . 

Morocco: El Bleida Societe Miniere de Bou Gaffer 

Namibia: 

Klein Aub Klein Aub Kopermaatskappy Beperk . . . . 

Kombat-Asis West Tsumeb Corp. Ltd 

Otjihase Tsumeb Corp. Ltd.-Otjihase Ltd 

Tsumeb Tsumeb Corp. Ltd 

South Africa: 

Black Mountain Phelps Dodge-G.F.S.A 

Broken Hill do 

Messina Messina (Transvaal) Development Ltd. . . 

O'Okiep O'Okiep Copper Co. Ltd 

Palabora Palabora Mining Co 

Prieska Prieska Copper Mine Ltd 

Sudan: Hofrat en Nahas Sudan Government 

Uganda: Kilembe Ugandan Government 

Zaire: 

Dikuluwe-Mashamba Gecamines 

Kakanda-Diselle do 



Kambove do 

Kamoto Underground do 

Kipushi do 

KovOpen Pit do 

Musoshi-Kinsenda Sodimiza 

Mutoshi Ruwe Gecamines 

Tenke Fungurume Cogema-Charter-Mitsui-Gecamines . . . 

Zambia: 

Baluba Roan Consolidated Mines Ltd 

Chambishi do 

Chibuluma do 

Chingola Division Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd. 

Kalulushi East Roan Consolidated Mines Ltd 

Kansanshi Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd. 

Konkola Division do 

Luanshya Roan Consolidated Mines Ltd 

Mufilira do 

Rokana Division Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd. 

Zimbabwe: 

Mangula (Miriam) MTD (Mangula) Ltd 



1958 



U 



10.2. 



' Status: D — developing or scheduled for development in near future; E — explored deposit, no immediate plans for production; P — producing at the time of the study 
(includes those temporarily shut down). 

^ Dash indicates no known production startup date; where a date later than 1 982 is given, production was forecast to start that year. 

^ Mining type: S — surface; U — underground. For explored deposits, mining type is proposed based on geology and technology. 

' Geological type: P — porphyry, includes disseminated, stockwork, and skarn; S — stratabound sedimentary; M — massive sulfide including volcanogenic deposits; 
O — other types. 

* Copper resource (thousand tons of contained copper): A— <500; B— 501-1,000; C— 1,001-2,000; D— 2,001-3,000; E— 3,001-5,000; F— 5,001-10,000; 
G—> 10,000. 

* Average annual recoverable copper capacity over the life of the mine. For explored deposits, the capacity is the proposed capacity for this evaluation. 



deposits in igneous rocks). South African deposits, which 
contain 6 pet of Africa's recoverable copper resource, have 
a much lower grade, averaging only 0.66 pet Cu. 

Fifteen African deposits, 14 of which were producing, 
each have resources of greater than 1 million tons of 
contained copper. These 15 deposits account for over 90 pet 
of the region's recoverable copper. According to available 



information, none of the African deposits were developing. 
However, feasibility studies are planned for the Kilembe, 
Uganda, deposit to determine the possibility of recovering 
cobalt from concentrate stockpiled on site and the 
feasibility of reopening mining operations. Extensive 
exploration to delineate the Kilembe ore body was 
planned for 1981 (36). 



DEPOSIT EVALUATION PROCEDURE 



Illustrated in figure 3 is the flow of the Bureau's 
Minerals Availability System (MAS) evaluation process, 
from deposit identification to the development of availa- 
bility curves. This flowsheet shows the various evaluation 
stages used in this study to assess the availability of 
copper from individual properties. After a deposit was 
identified for analysis, an economic evaluation of the 
property was performed. Optimal mining, concentrating, 
smelting and refining methods, production rates, and 



other production parameters were chosen using current 
engineering principles. Startup dates for developing 
deposits were based on announced company plans. For 
explored deposits, a near-term development schedule (5 to 
10 years) was developed. Planned expansions for operat- 
ing mines were included when known. 

Information on average grades, ore tonnages, and 
different physical characteristics affecting production was 
obtained from various sources, including Bureau and U.S. 



15 





dentif 
an 


cotlon 
d 














["Ml"ne~al ^ 
Industries 1 
1 Location 1 
' System 1 
1 (MILS) 1 
1 data J 

MAS 

computer 

data 

base 


te 1 ectlon 
of deposits 






















Ton nage 

and grade 

determination 






























' 




Englnee ring 
and cost 
evol uatlon 


















i 








' 1 




Deposit 

report 

preparation 




MAS 

permanent 

deposit 

files 




' 


' 


' 



























Taxes, 

royalties, 

cost indexes, 

prices, etc. 



Data 

selection and 

va lidatlon 



Availobility 
curve I I J 



Analytical 
reports 



Figure 3.— Deposit evaluation procedure. 




Variable and 
parameter 
adjustments 



Sensitivity 
ano lysis 




Data 



Availability 
curve* 



Anolyticol 
reports 



Geological Survey publications, professional journals, 
State and industry publications, annual reports, company 
lOK reports and prospectuses filed with the Securities and 
Exchange Conunission, private companies, and estimates 
made by Bureau personnel. Much of the foreign data was 
collected through Bureau contracts. 



CAPITAL AND OPERATING 
COST ESTIMATION 

When possible, actual company cost data were used. If 
these data were not available, the required capital and 
operating costs were estimated by standardized costing 
techniques or in limited cases from a costing system 
prepared for the Bureau (5). This system is designed to 
prepare capital and operating cost estimates through the 
use of equations, curves, and factors. Based on an average 
of the costs for existing mining operations in the United 
States and Cemada, the system covers operations of 
different size. Because the system was developed using 
U.S. and Canadian costs, it is necessary to apply exchange 
rates, inflation rates, and productivity differences (com- 
pared to those of the United States) in order to determine 
the U.S.-dollar-equivalent cost of doing business in a 
foreign country. Correct use of this costing system will 
produce reliable estimates, which historically have fallen 
within 25 pet of actual costs. 

The cost data were used to perform an economic 
analysis for each property. Capital and operating costs for 
developing and explored deposits were adjusted to average 
1981 dollars. Mine and mill capital costs incurred prior to 
1981 by producing mines (and some developing and 
explored deposits) were adjusted to average 1981 using 
the remaining book value of the investments. Foreign 
deposit costs were adjusted to U.S. dollars based on foreign 
exchange rates, productivity factors, and inflation rates. 
These computations reflect the cost of doing business in 
the foreign country in U.S. dollar equivalents. 



Capital expenditures were calculated for exploration, 
acquisition, development, and mine and mill plant and 
equipment. Capital expenditures for mining and process- 
tiing facilities include the costs of mobile and stationary 
equipment, construction, engineering, infrastructure, and 
working capital. A broad category, infrastructure in- 
cludes, among other things, the costs of the water system, 
power system, fire protection, roads, port facilities, 
construction of necess£try rail facilities, and, in remote 
areas, construction of town and housing facilities. Work- 
ing capital is a revolving cash fund for such operating 
expenses as labor, insurance, supplies, and taxes. 

Mine and mill operating costs were also calculated for 
each deposit. The total operating cost is a combination of 
direct and indirect costs. Direct operating costs include 
direct and maintenance labor, materials, payroll over- 
head, and utilities. Indirect operating costs include 
administrative costs, facilities maintenance and supplies, 
research, and technical and clerical labor. Other costs not 
included in operating costs but used in the analysis 
include deferred expenses, depreciation, insurance, in- 
terest payments (if applicable), and taxes. 

The Bureau previously developed a Supply Analysis 
Model (SAM) to perform an economic analysis which 
presents the results as the primary commodity price (total 
production cost) needed to provide a stipulated rate of 
return (7). The rate of return (ROR) used in this study is 
the discounted-cash-flow ROR, most commonly defined as 
the ROR that makes the present worth of cash flows from 
an investment equal to the present worth of all after-tax 
investments (26). For this study, a 15-pct ROR was 
considered necessary to cover the opportunity cost of 
capital plus risk. For some government-owned operations, 
a 15-pct ROR may not be required for continued 
production. However, for comparison purposes, each 
deposit was analyzed at this ROR. 

For producing mines, analysis was also performed at a 
0-pct ROR, which is roughly equivalent to a break-even 
production cost. In the short run, a mine may continue to 



16 



produce at copper prices even below this cost in 
anticipation of improved market conditions. 



ASSUMPTIONS 

The objective of the engineering-economic analysis for 
each deposit was to determine the total cost necessary to 
produce a specified level of output from the deposit. Total 
cost, also called commodity or incentive price, is defined as 
the average total cost of production for the deposit. In this 
study, profit computed at a 15-pct ROR was included in 
the total cost. Total cost, then, is the minimum copper 
price (in constant dollars) at which a firm would be willing 
to develop its property; at this price, the firm would 
recover its investment and make a 15-pct profit. 

Determinations of the quantity of copper that could be 
produced and the cost required to achieve this production 
were based on the following assumptions: 

1. Each operation will produce at full planned operat- 
ing capacity throughout its life. (Capacities were based on 
1980 and/or 1981 company plans or on engineering 
judgments.) 

2. Competition and demand conditions are such that 
each operation will be able to sell all its output at its total 
production cost. (This condition implies that the level of 
copper demand will support the highest cost deposit, or 
that existing government subsidies will equal the differ- 
ence between the market price and the total cost for each 
submarginal deposit.) 

3. All byproducts will be sold at the prices shown on 
table 12. 

4. Concentrates produced by the deposits analyzed can 
be processed at existing smelters and refineries on a 
custom basis, or new smelter and refinery facilities can be 
constructed at a comparable cost. (The adequacy of 
existing smelting and refining capacities was not 
analyzed.) 

5. Startup dates for deposits not producing at the time 
of the study were proposed. If a deposit was not scheduled 
for production, initial development was scheduled for 
1981. 

Time lags involved in filing environmental impact 

Table 12. — Byproduct commodity prices used In analysis' 

Commodity and unit Price 

Cadmium lb. . $2.50 

Cobalt lb. . 5.00 

Gold tr oz. . 425.00 

Iron ton . . 80.50 

Lead lb.. .34 

Molybdenum^ lb. . 4.00 

Nickel lb. . 3.45 

Silver tr oz. . 10.00 

Sulfur ton . . 1 17.50 

Uranium^ lb. . 25.00 

Zinc lb.. .41 

' Based on average commodity prices except for gold, silver, 
molybdenum, and cobalt, which were lowered from temporary highs to 
long-run prices. 

^ In concentrate. 

^ As U,0.. 



statements and receiving necessary permits, financing, 
etc., were not included in the analysis. Existing laws and 
regulations, environmental, political, legal, or other 
constraints may limit production from some of the 
deposits included in this study. 

The byproduct and coproduct prices used in this study 
(table 12) were based on 1981 averages with the exception 
of gold, silver, molybdenum, and cobalt prices, which were 
lowered from the temporary highs that existed at that 
time to more realistic long-run prices. Because the study 
was conducted using constant 1981 dollars, no escalation 
of either costs or prices was included. 



AVAILABILITY CURVES 

After price and quantity data were determined for each 
deposit, total and annual resource availability curves 
were constructed to indicate copper availability. These 
curves are discontinuous functions relating the total cost 
(as defined in the "Assumptions" section) for a deposit to 
its level of production. The total or annual quantity of 
copper from each deposit was accumulated from lowest to 
highest total cost to show copper availability. A total 
resource availability curve is not an ordinary supply curve 
because it ignores the paramenter of time and is not the 
industry's marginal cost curve. Rather, a total resource 
availability curve is an aggregate of the "industry's total 
production potential at a stipulated cost which covers full 
production costs. 

For the engineering analysis, it was necessary to 
determine a development schedule for each property. For 
producing mines, expansions considered to have a high 
probability of occurring were included. For nonproducing 
deposits, the time required for development depends upon 
a number of factors, including the location of the deposit, 
the need for further exploration, plant construction and 
infrastructure requirements, depth of overburden, and the 
mining method to be used. Curves that take these factors 
into consideration, called annual resource availability 
curves, were included in the study. Annual resource 
availability curves are disaggregations of total resource 
curves to an annual production basis. Compared with total 
availability curves, annual availability curves more 
closely resemble true supply curves since they show 
annual production; but they also indicate average total 
cost of production rather than marginal cost. 

Separate annual availability curves were constructed 
for producing mines and nonproducing (developing and 
explored) deposits. Annual curves for producing mines 
showed the copper capacity of existing mines and for 
planned expansions when known. Annual curves for most 
nonproducing deposits cannot be related to any given year 
since production is not expected in the near future. They 
do, however, show required lead times before production 
can begin and indicate potential annual production 
capabilities. Annual availability curves for nonproducing 
deposits are important because they show production costs 
and capabilities for future mines. 



17 



OPERATING AND CAPITAL COSTS 



The average total cost calculated for each of the deposits 
analyzed included mining, concentrating, and smelting 
and refining operating costs; transportation costs to the 
mill, smelter, eind refinery; capital recovery; taxes and 
profit. (The cost of transportation from the refinery to the 
copper market is not included.) These costs often vary 
greatly, depending on such factors as size of operation, 
mining method, deposit location, stripping ratio, depth of 
ore body, grade of copper and byproducts, processing 
losses, energy and labor costs, and applicable tax 
structure. 

The operating costs presented in this section are 
weighted averages based on producing ore and refined 
metal over the life of the operation. Capital costs for 
deposits not producing at the time of the study reflect the 
total investment required to develop a mine, construct all 
facilities, and begin production. Capital costs for produc- 
ing mines are not shown because some of the mines have 
been producing for many years and a large portion of the 
initial cost has been depreciated. 



MINE AND MILL 
OPERATING COSTS 

This section presents operating cost data for all surface 
and underground copper mines (except conibined surface 
and underground operations) that were producin at the 
time of this study. Mine and mill cost data for he 57 
surface mines and 57 underground mines that were 
producing are summarized in table 13; data for 32 
additional producing mines with combined operations or 



which have only leaching facilities are not included. Costs 
for individual deposits may vary greatly from the country 
averages shown. 

As shown in table 13, the average mining and milling 
cost for producing surface mines was $7.40 per ton of ore; 
$3.80/ton for mining and $3.60/ton for milling. (In this 
section, all costs per ton are costs per ton of ore.) The 
United States, which accounts for over 30 pet of the 
annual capacity of producing surface mines in market 
economy countries, had average costs of $4.10/ton for 
mining and $3.90/ton for milling, which were slightly 
greater than foreign producers' costs. Chile, which 
accounts for 16 pet of the capacity from producing surface 
mines in market economy countries, had average costs of 
$5.40/ton for mining, and $2.90/ton for milling. Although 
the Chilean mining cost is high, Chile's mines are able to 
compete with other mines because of the high quality of 
Chilean ores; the average grade is more than 1 pet Cu. The 
Philippine surface mines had the lowest mining and 
milling cost, averaging $6.00/ton. The average mining 
and milling cost in Zaire, at $22.30/ton, was 300 pet 
higher than the average for all surface mines. This is 
because the productivity of Zaire's mines is low, and 
additional processing is required to recover byproducts 
from the ore. However, the extremely high quality of 
Zaire's ores (which average 4.05 pet Cu) and significant 
byproducts enable its mines to compete with lower cost 
operations. 

Mining and milling costs per ton of ore are higher for 
underground mines than those for surface mines. 
Although the average milling cost for underground mines 
($3.50/ton) is about equal to the average milling cost for 



Table 13. — Estimated mine and mill operating costs for producing copper mines 



Type of operation and country 



Total annual 
Number of mines Average ore grade, capacity, thousand 
pet Cu metric tons 

recoverable copper 



Cost per metric tons of ore' 



fvline 



Mil|2 



Total 



38 

19 


.79 
.67 


2,451 
1,163 


3.70 
4.10 


3.50 
3.90 


7.10 
8.00 


57 


.75 


3,614 


3.80 


3.60 


7.40 



Surface:^ 

Canada 10 0.38 286 $3.00 $3.10 $6.20 

Chile 3 1.02 571 5.40 2.90 8.30 

Penj 4 .79 313 3.40 4.30 7.70 

Philippines 6 .49 169 2.90 3.20 6.00 

Zaire 3 4.05 367 14.10 8.20 22.30 

Other countries 12 .61 744 2.50 3.30 5.80 

Total or average foreign countries' . 
United States 

Total or average, all countries'. . . 

Underground:^ 

Australia 4 3.01 172 12.40 7.00 19.40 

Canada 10 2.10 252 13.30 5.80 19.20 

Chile 4 1.00 491 4.30 2.20 6.50 

Philippines 5 .47 103 3.20 2.60 580 

Zaire 3 3.90 178 29.70 11.40 41.20 

Zambia 6 3.20 349 15.50 7.60 23.10 

Other countries 20 1.43 302 13.70 5.70 19.40 

Total or average, foreign countries' .. . 52 1.34 1,847 6.70 3.30 10.00 

UnKed States 5 .88 282 8.50 4.90 13.40 

Total or average, all countries' 57 1.27 2,129 6.90 3.50 10.50 

Grand total or average:' 

Foreign countries 90 1.01 4,297 4.90 3.40 8.30 

United States 24 .71 1 ,445 4.90 4.00 8.90 

All countries 114 S3 5,742 4£0 3^60 8.50 

' Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 

' Does not include mines having leach facilities only. Mines having combined float and leach operations are included. 

' Does not include mines having combined surface and underground operations. An additional 960,000 tons of copper is recoverable annually from these 
mines. 



18 



surface mines ($3.60/ton), the average mining cost for 
underground mines ($6.90/ton) is nearly twice as high as 
the mining cost average for surface mines ($3.80/ton). 
However, much of the difference in mining cost is offset by 
the fact that ore grades are generally much higher for 
underground mines; the average grade is 1.27 pet Cu for 
underground ores versus 0.75 pet Cu for surface ores. 

Mining costs vary depending on depth of deposit, 
mining method, and other factors. For the underground 
mines, average costs ranged from $3.20/ton to mine the 
low-grade ores from the Philippine mines (average grade: 
0.47 pet Cu) to $29.70/ton for the high-grade Zairian ores 
(average: 3.90 pet Cu). 

The four underground Chilean mines, which accoimt for 
23 pet of the annual capacity of producing underground 
mines in market economy countries, had average costs of 
$4.30/ton for mining and $2.20/ton for milling. The 
average ore grade for these mines is 1 pet Cu. Mining and 
milling costs for the seven U.S. producing underground 
mines, which account for 13 pet of underground mine 
capacity, were about 35 pet greater than foreign mines. 
The six Zambian underground mines, which account for 
16 pet of the annual capacity of producing underground 
mines in market economy countries, had an average 
mining and milling cost of $23.10/ton: $15.50/ton for 
mining and $7.60/ton for milling. The four Zairian mines 
had extremely high costs, averaging $41.20/ton for mining 
and milling combined. Milling costs in Zaire are extreme- 
ly high, $11.40/ton, due to the additional processing 
required to recover byproducts. Although costs in Zambia 



and Zaire are high in dollars per ton of ore, average costs 
per pound of refined copper are low because of high ore 
grades, as explained in the following section. 



TOTAL PRODUCTION COSTS 

Table 14 shows weighted average surface and under- 
ground operating costs for producing mines in dollars per 
pound of refined copper produced. Mines having combined 
surface and underground operations or leach operations 
only are not included. Revenues from coproduet and 
byproduct commodities were computed and subtracted 
from total operating cost to arrive at net cost. The net 
costs shown — the average out-of-pocket costs for produc- 
ing mines in each country — include all operating costs 
required to produce refined copper and any credits for 
byproduct production. Net cost is the average cost of 
production for each country not including recovery of 
capital or profits. It reflects the average copper price at 
which the mines in the country would "break even," or 
cover all production costs. A company may be willing to 
operate at this price temporarily if it believes the 
situation will improve in the near future. However, if the 
company's outlook is bleak, it may temporarily shut down 
or permanently close the mine and shift its investment to 
a more profitable venture. An exception to this is that 
State-owned or State-controlled mines may continue to 
produce at or below the break-even price if the resulting 
losses are expected to be less than those that would be 



38 
19 


.26 
.30 


.24 
.28 


.28 
.38 


.77 
.96 


.13 
.05 


.21 
.16 


.69 
.86 


.88 
1.02 


57 


.27 


.25 


.31 


.83 


.11 


.20 


.74 


.91 



Table 14. — Estimated production costs for producing copper mines,' per pound of refined copper 

Type of operation Number of ... „ „„^, ,..,, „„^,2 Smelter- ^°'?.' to.=o6 Byproduct ..„, „„„,7 Total cost,^'°' 

and country mines Mme cost Mill cost^ refinery cost= °P^^^^'S^ ^^^^ credits Net cosf FOB refinery 

Surface: 

Canada 10 $0.42 $0.44 $0.27 $1.13 $0.03 $0.29 $0.87 $1.04 

Cfiile 3 .28 .15 .26 .69 .10 .19 .60 .76 

Peru 4 .23 .28 .31 .82 .12 .06 .88 1.12 

Pfiilippines 6 .33 .36 .27 .96 .09 .14 .91 1.04 

Zaire 3 .19 .11 .30 .60 .22 .12 .70 .79 

aher countries 12 .24 .30 .27 .81 .14 .34 .61 .81 

Total or average, foreign 

countries^ 

United States 

Total or average, all 
countries^ 

Underground: 

Australia 4 .22 .12 .39 .73 .08 .09 .73 .89 

Canada 10 .32 .14 .83 1 .29 .07 .92 .44 .61 

Chile 4 .36 .19 .20 .75 .04 .06 .72 .79 

Philippines 5 .41 .33 .28 1.02 .10 .40 .72 .85 

Zaire 3 .42 .16 .38 .97 .24 .15 1.05 1.14 

Zambia 6 .41 .20 .27 .87 .17 .03 1.01 1.09 

Other countries 20 .57 .24 .58 1.38 .i2 .88 .63 .92 

Total or average, foreign 

countries^ 52 .38 .19 .32 .88 .09 .21 .77 .88 

United States 5 .54 .31 .35 1.20 .07 .10 1.18 1.28 

Total or average, all 

countries^ 57 .40 .20 .32 .92 .09 .19 .82 .93 

Grand total or average:^ 

Foreign countries 90 .31 .22 .30 .82 .11 .21 .73 .87 

United States 24 .35 .29 .37 1.01 .05 .15 .92 1.07 

All countries 114 .32 .23 .32 .87 .10 .20 .77 .92 

' Does not include mines having combined surface and underground operations. Average ore grade and annual refined copper production in table 13. 
^ Does not include mines having leach facilities only. Mines having combined float and leach operations are included. 

' Includes smelting and refining charges, transportation costs to the smelter and refinery (but not to market), and postmill processing charges for other 
(noncopper) commodities. 
■* Summation of mine, mill, and smelter-refinery costs. 
* Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 
' Includes property, severance, State, and Federal taxes and royalties. 
' Total operating cost plus taxes less byproduct credits. 
' Net cost plus recovery of capital and p'ofil at a 15-pct ROR. 
' Transportation charges from the refinery to the market are not included. These costs are estimated in table 15. 



19 



incurred if the mine were closed. (If the mine were closed, 
the government might have to pay unemployment and 
other welfare benefits or incur other costs. Also, the 
governments may need the sales revenues generated by 
the mine to import other needed materials into the 
country.) 

In this study, the difference between net cost and total 
cost is that total cost includes recovery of capital and a 
profit on all investments at a 15-pct ROR, FOB (free on 
board) refinery. For some countries, there is no great 
difference in these costs because most of the mines have 
been producing for many years and a large portion of the 
capital has been written off. For other countries, the 
difference is significant because new mines have recently 
begun production and large amounts of capital have yet to 
be wnritten off. For some operations, there may be 
signific£int transportation charges to ship the copper to the 
market. 

There are many reasons for the differences in the 
average country costs shown in table 14. Although this 
report does not provide detailed explanations for all these 
differences, some country comparisons are presented 
below, and some of the reasons for variations in costs are 
discussed. 

Mining 

The weighted average mining cost for the 57 surface 
mines producing at the time of the study was $0.27 per 
pound of refined copper; surface mine costs ranged from a 
low in Zaire of $0.19/lb to a high of $0.42/lb in Canada. (In 
this section, all costs per pound are costs per pound of 
refined copper.) For the surface mines, the cost differences 
from country to country were due largely to variances in 
stripping ratios, mining methods, productivity, and 
average copper ore graides. The average grade for all 
producing surface mines is 0.75 pet Cu, ranging from 4.05 
pet Cu in Zaire to 0.38 pet Cu in Canada (table 13). Chile 
and the United States, which account for nearly half of the 
production capacity of the producing market economy 
surface mines studied, had average mine operating costs 
of $0.28/lb and $0.30/lb, respectively. 

Underground mining costs, ranging from $0.22/lb for 
Australian mines to $0.54/lb for U.S. mines, averaged 
$0.40/lb, or $0.13/lb more than the average cost for surface 
mines. The wide variance in costs again reflected 
differences in average ore grades, mining methods, and 
characteristics of individual ore bodies. U.S. underground 
mines have an average ore grade of only 0.88 pet Cu, 
compared with an average grade of 1.34 pet Cu for all 
other market economy countries. Largely because of this 
low grade, the mining cost per pound of refined copper for 
U.S. underground mines averaged $0.16 higher than that 
of xmderground mines in all other countries. 

Milling 

Milling costs for copper from surface mines ranged from 
$0.11Ab for the 3 high-grade Zairian mines to $0.44/lb for 
the 10 low-grade Canadian mines and averaged $0.25/lb 
for all surface mines. The average cost of milling from 
underground mines was $0.20/lb, or $0.05/lb less than the 
average surface mine milling cost. As mentioned earlier, 
milling costs per ton of ore are about equal for surface and 
underground mines. However, when milling cost is 
converted to dollars per pound of refined copper, the cost is 



lower for underground mines than for surface mines 
because of the much higher average ore grade of 
underground mines. 

Smelting, Refining, and Miscellaneous 

Smelting and refining costs include transportation 
charges to the smelter and refinery and postmill process- 
ing charges for other (noncopper) commodities. These 
costs averaged $0.37/lb for U.S. mines, $0.07/lb higher 
than the average cost in foreign countries. Costs in most 
foreign countries ranged from $0.20/lb to $0.39Ab and 
averaged $0.30/lb. Because of additional costs for process- 
ing coproducts and b3T)roducts from underground mines in 
Canada and Zaire, costs in these countries were high, 
averaging $0.83/lb and $0.38/lb, respectively. 

Smelting and refining costs for concentrates originating 
from mines in the Philippines and surface mines in 
Canada are low because most of these concentrates are 
processed in Japan. Custom smelters and refineries 
typically purchase copper concentrates at prices based on 
London Metal Exchange (LME) copper prices minus a 
charge to cover processing charges and profit. However, 
Japan has its own pricing system which allows Japanese 
smelters to sell copper within Japan at a premium over 
the LME price. This premium price, which amounts to a 
subsidy paid by Japanese consumers, allows smelters to 
purchase concentrates at the LME price and sell refined 
copper at their higher internal producer price. As a result, 
Japanese smelters can offer lower smelting and refinery 
charges, thereby attracting more concentrates, and 
recover the added cost when the copper is sold at the 
premium price (30). Therefore, although U.S. smelting 
and refining costs are probably competitive with those in 
Japan, the U.S. smelting industry is not able to compete 
with Japan's because of the pricing system imposed by the 
Japanese Government. 

Total Operating Cost 

The total operating cost (mine, mill, smelter, and 
refinery) for producing surface mines was estimated to be 
$0.83Ab. Zaire had the lowest total operating cost, 
$0.60/lb, whereas Canada had the highest, $1.13/lb. Costs 
for underground mines were slightly higher, averaging 
$0.92/lb and ranging from $0.73/lb in Australia to $1.29/lb 
in Canada. 

Taxes 

Taxes, including property, severance, state, and federal 
assessments, averaged $0.10/lb. Taxes in some countries 
were insignificant ($0.03/lb for surface mines in Canada), 
while in other countries they added greatly to the cost of 
production ($0.17/lb in Zambia and $0.24/lb in Zaire for 
underground mines). For producing mines as a whole, 
state and federal taxes comprised 53 pet of total taxes, 
severance taxes accounted for 26 pet, property taxes 
accounted for 6 pet, and royalties accounted for 15 pet. 

Byproduct Revenues 

In recent years, bjrproduct revenues have been very 
important to the economic viability of the copper mining 
industry. (As will be shown later in this report, changes in 
byproduct prices can greatly affect the profitability of a 



20 



mine.) Since the total operating cost for producing copper 
mines (in average 1981 dollars) exceeded the 1981 copper 
selling price, byproduct revenues were essential for 
continued mine production. Byproduct prices used in this 
analysis are shown in table 12. Byproduct credits for 
producing mines averaged $0.20/lb: $0.20/lb for surface 
mines and $0.19/lb for underground mines. Credits ranged 
from a low of $0.03/lb for underground mines in Zambia to 
$0.92/lb for underground mines in Canada. Major b3T)rod- 
ucts and coproducts for Canadian mines are gold, lead, 
molybdenum, zinc, and silver. Byproduct credits for the 
Chilean mines averaged $0.19/lb for surface mines and 
$0.06/lb for underground mines and were primarily from 
gold and molybdenum production. Credits for U.S. mines 
averaged $0.15/lb. 

After credits for byproducts, net cost for all producing 
mines averaged $0.77/lb. 

Net and Total Cost 

Net cost for producing surface mines averaged $0.74/lb. 
Because of high-grade ore and good bjfproduct credits, 
Chile's mines were the lowest cost siorface producers, 
averaging only $0.60/lb. Zaire's mines are highly sensitive 
to changes in b5fproduct prices; recent decreases in these 
prices have increased net costs greatly to an average of 
$0.70/lb. Net cost for surface mines in other countries 
ranged from $0.86Ab in the U.S. to $0.91Ab in the 
Philippines. 

At the 1981 copper price of $0.85/lb, only 4 of the 19 U.S. 
surface mines were able to cover production costs. This 
explains why so many domestic mines had extended 
holidays, reduced output, temporary closures, or shut- 
downs. Recovery of capital and profit added an additional 
estimated $0.17/lb to the production cost of surface mines 
(with total cost computed at a 15-pct ROR). At the 1981 
copper price, most surface mines in Chile and Zaire were 
able to cover production costs and receive at least a 15-pct 
ROR, but very few U.S. mines operated profitably. 

Net cost for underground mines was estimated at 
$0.82/lb or $0.08/lb higher than that for surface mines. 
This indicates that although grades of ore from under- 
ground mines are usually higher than those of ore from 
surface mines, this difference does not totally offset the 
higher costs of underground mining. For underground 



mines, recovery of capital and profit add an estimated 
additional average of $0.11/lb to the production cost. The 
total cost at a 15-pct ROR is estimated to be $0.93/lb, 
which is only $0.02/lb higher than the total cost for 
surface mines. At the 1981 copper price of $0.85/lb, most 
underground mines in Canada, Chile, and the Philippines, 
were able to produce economically. In the United States, 
however, none of the seven underground mines appeared 
to be able to make a profit or even cover production costs. 

Transportation Cost 

Transportation charges for moving copper concentrates 
to the smelter and refinery or for shipping refined copper 
to the meirket often affect the ability of mines to compete 
on the world market. Mines that are close to the smelter 
and/or refinery or copper market enjoy a cost advantage 
over more distant operations. 

The costs shown on table 14 are FOB refinery; 
•transportation charges to the smelter-refinery are in- 
cluded in the "smelter-refinery cost." For producing 
mines, these costs average only about $0.03/lb because 
many smelters and refineries are located near the mines. 
For mines that must ship concentrates great distances, 
however, transportation costs are much larger. 

Table 15 provides estimates of transportation charges 
for concentrates and blister-refined copper. In 1982, U.S. 
mines exported 148,000 tons of copper in concentrate (75 
pet of U.S. exfwrts of concentrate) to Japan. The 
transportation charge from a mine in Arizona to Japan is 
estimated to be $80/ton concentrate. About 40 pet of the 
charge would be for rail haulage to the port (San Diego), 
25 pet for the terminal cheirge, and 35 pet for ocean 
freight. Charges for Chile and Peru are generally lower 
than the U.S., averaging $40 to $45 per ton, because the 
mines are located nearer to the ports. 

After copper has been processed to the refined stage, 
additional costs are incurred to transport the copper to the 
meirket. For Chile and Peru these costs etre small, 
averaging $0.025Ab to $0.032Ab refined copper. For Zaire 
and Zambia, however, these costs are much larger 
averaging $0.063/lb to $0.07/lb. 

In Zaire, most copper is presently railed from the copper 
belt at Kolwezi 1,050 km to Luebo where it is loaded onto 
river vessels and barged 700 km to Kinshasa. From 



Table 15.— Estimated copper transportation costs for selected countries^ 



From — 



To— 



Copper concentrates 


Blister-refined copper 


$/ton cone 


C/lb copper 


$/ton blister-refined 


C/lb copper 


45 


7.3 


NAp 


NAp 


40 


6.5 


NAp 


NAp 


NAp 


NAp 


60 


2.7 


NAp 


NAp 


55 


2.5 


35 


5.7 


NAp 


NAp 


30 


4.9 


NAp 


NAp 


40 


6.5 


70 


3.2 


NAp 


NAp 


65 


2.9 


NAp 


NAp 


55 


2.5 


25 


4.0 


NAp 


NAp 


30 


4.9 


65 


2.9 


NAp 


NAp 


55 


2.5 


NAp 


NAp 


85 


3.9 


80 


13.0 


NAp 


NAp 


NAp 


NAp 


155 


7.0 


NAp 


NAp 


145 


6.6 


NAp 


NAp 


150 


6.8 


NAp 


NAp 


140 


6.3 



Chile Germany, Fed, Rep. of 

Japan 

Northwestern Europe 

United States 

Mexico Germany, Fed. Rep. of 

Japan 

Peru Germany, Fed. Rep. of, Japan. 

Northwestern Europe 

United States 

South Africa Germany, Fed. Rep. of 

Japan 

Northwestern Europe 

United States 

United States, 

Arizona Japan 

Zaire Japan 

Northwestern Europe 

Zambia Japan 

Northwestern Europe 



NAp Not applicable. 

' Costs are estimated: transportation costs are negotiated on an individual deposit basis and may vary considerably. 



21 



Kinshasa it is loaded back onto trains and railed 365 km 
to the port at Matadi. The total shipping charge from the 
mine to Japan is estimated at $155/ton refined copper 
($0.07/lb). Other routes for export exist but at the present 
time this is the most likely one. In 1981, about 500,000 
tons of copper was shipped using this route. 

At the present time, about 85 pet of Zambia's copper 
production is transported by rail 680 km to the port at 
Dar. The remaining 15 pet is railed 1,120 km to the South 
African port of East London. The transportation cost from 
the mine to Japan is estimated to be $150/ton refined 
copper ($0.068/lb) while the cost to northwestern Europe 
is about $140/ton ($0.063/lb). 

These high transportation costs, combined with large 
decreases in the price of byproduct cobalt, have made the 
mines in Zaire and Zambia much less competitive in 
recent years. As shown on table 14, costs for producing 
mines in Zaire and Zambia average $0.90/lb and $1.09/lb, 
respectively. Adding the transportation charges to market 
of about $0.07/lb raises the cost in Zaire to about $0.97/lb 
and Zambia to $1.16/lb, both well above the average 1981 
copper price of $0.85/lb. 



CAPITAL COSTS 

Capital costs for exploration, acquisition, development, 
mine and mill plant and equipment, and infrastructure 
were calculated for all deposits. (For most deposits, capital 
costs for smelting and refining were included in the 
custom operating cost; these costs are not discussed in this 
section.) Capital costs for developing and explored 
deposits, by type and size of operation, are shown in table 
16. The costs shown are averages for the deposits analyzed 
(and are adjusted to 1981 U.S. dollars); actual costs may 
vary greatly depending on deposit location, characteristics 
of the ore body, and other factors. 

Capital costs were analyzed for 70 developing and 
explored surface deposits which had a weighted average 
daily capacity of 22,800 tons of ore. Total capital costs for 
these deposits averaged $5,800 per annual ton of copper. 
Of this average, $1,000 was for exploration, acquisition, 
and development; $1,200 was for mine plant and 
equipment; $2,200 v;as for mill plant and equipment; and 
$1,400 was for infrastructure. The exploration, acquisi- 
tion, and development cost can be broken down further to 



16 pet for exploration, 8 pet for acquisition, and 76 pet for 
development. 

Analyses indicated that a surface deposit capable of 
producing 14,000 tons of copper per year (about 3,400 tons 
of ore per day) would have a capital cost of about $60 
million (not including smelter, refinery, or infrastructure 
costs). A surface deposit that could produce nearly 20,000 
tons of copper per year (7,000 tons of ore per day) would 
cost slightly more than $82 million, while a deposit with 
capacity of 30,000 tons of copper per year (17,000 tons of 
ore per day) would cost $125 million. A large surface 
deposit with a capacity of 75,000 tons copper per year 
(about 38,000 tons of ore per day) would cost an estimated 
$350 million. 

Of the surface deposits, those with capacities greater 
than 75,000 tons of ore per day had the lowest capital costs 
per annual ton of copper. (However, because only three of 
the deposits studied fell into this category they are not 
included in table 16.) Capital costs for other surface 
deposits ranged from $5,300 to $6,000 per annual ton. 
Determining economies of scale is difficult because the 
deposits in each category are scattered throughout the 
world and have many differences in infrastructure and 
deposit characteristics. Also, inflation and exchange rates 
vary greatly among countries. 

Thirty-seven underground deposits, with an average 
capacity of 7,300 tons of ore per day, were also analyzed to 
determine capital costs. Total capital costs for these 
deposits averaged $5,200 per annual ton of copper: $1,100 
for exploration, acquisition, and development; $1,400 for 
mine plant and development; $2,000 for mill plant and 
equipment; and $800 for infrastructure. Of the explora- 
tion, acquisition, and development costs, 19 pet was for 
exploration, 5 pet was for acquisition, and 76 pet was for 
development. Costs ranged from $3,900 per annual ton for 
deposits with capacities from 2,001 to 5,000 tons of ore per 
day to $6,000 per annual ton for those with capacities of 
more than 10,000 tons per day. 

Total capital costs (not including smelter, refinery, or 
infrastructure) for an underground deposit capable of 
producing 16,000 tons of copper per year (3,000 tons of ore 
per day) are estimated to be $45 million. An underground 
deposit with an annual output of 30,000 tons of copper 
(13,000 tons of ore per day) would cost about $200 million. 

Differences in capital costs occur primarily in costs for 
exploration, mill plant and equipment, and infrastruc- 



Table 16.— Estimated capital costs for developing and explored copper deposits 



Type and size of Number ,«^/h^ 

operation, metric tons of .? ° °'^: 

of ore per day deposits thousand 

^ ' vjopuoivo metric tons 

Surface: 

Less than 2,000 6 1 .4 

2,001 to 5,000 8 3.6 

5,001 to 10,000 8 7.4 

10,001 to 25,000 26 18.7 

25,001 to 50,000 16 38.1 

Greater than 50,000 6 70.0 

Total or average' 

Underground: 

Less than 2,000 

2,001 to 5,000 

5,001 to 10,000 

Greater than 10,000 

Total or average' 37 7.3 

' Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding 



Cost per annual metric ton of refined copper 



Exploration, 


Mine plant 


fVlill plant 






acquisition, 


and 


and 


Infrastructure 


Total' 


development 


equipment 


equipment 






$2,300 


$1,100 


$1,300 


$800 


$5,500 


1,000 


900 


2,400 


900 


5,300 


1,200 


1,100 


1,900 


1,100 


5,300 


1,000 


1,000 


2,200 


1,500 


5,600 


1,100 


1,400 


2,200 


1,400 


6,000 


900 


1,100 


2,400 


1,600 


6,000 



70 


22.8 


1,000 


1,200 


2,200 


1,400 


5,800 


10 

14 

5 

8 


1.4 

2.9 

6.4 

22.8 


700 

600 

800 

1,600 


1,500 

900 

1,200 

1,400 


1,200 
1,300 
1,700 
2,700 


1,700 
1,100 
1,000 
'300 


5,100 
3,900 
4,800 
6,000 



1,100 



1,400 



2,000 



800 



5,200 



22 



ture. Economies of scale are not readily visible because of 
the mixing of many types of underground mining 
methods. As with surface deposits, underground deposits 



are scattered throughout the world and have many 
differences in infrastructure and deposit characteristics. 



COPPER AVAILABILITY 



Total availability of copper from market economy mines 
and deposits is illustrated in figure 4. A total of 330 
million tons of copper is potentially recoverable from the 
deposits analyzed; however, a copper price exceeding 
$3.50/lb would be required in order for all the deposits to 
produce economically. In 1981, copper was selling for 
about $0.85/lb. At that price, an estimated 88 million tons 
could be economically mined and nearly all of the output 
would be from mines that were producing at the time of 
the study. If the price of copper were to increase to 
$1.25/lb, the quantity of copper that would be economical- 
ly recoverable could increase over 100 pet to 207 million 
tons. At that price, nearly all the copper that could be 
economically produced (90 pet) would be from mines that 
were producing at the time of the study. 

As shown in figure 4, several mines received such large 
revenues from other commodities that no copper revenues 
were required in order for them to produce economically 
(with total cost equal to zero). These mines produce copper 
as a byproduct of other metal production and are heavily 
dependent on revenues from the other metals. 



3.50 


1 1 1 1 1 1 1 T ■ 

1 


3.00 




dollars per pound 

8 S 


r 


■ J : 


8 


^^^^..-'^ 


^ 1.00 


r' ' 


.50 


1 I J 1 1 1 1 u , 



40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 4.— Total copper availability from mines and deposits. 
(Costs are In average 1981 dollars and Include a 15-pct ROR.) 



TOTAL AVAILABILITY FROM PRODUCING, 
DEVELOPING, AND EXPLORED DEPOSITS 




20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 
TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 5. — Breakdown of total copper availability from 
producing, developing, and explored deposits. (Costs are in 
average 1981 dollars and include a 15-pct ROR.) 



Table 17.— Copp er potentially available from produc ing, 
deveroping, and explored deposits at selected 
copper price ranges 

(Thousand metric tons) 

Totalcostperpound ^'^^ e^pTottg ^°'^'' 

Under $0.75 81,400 280 81,680 

$0.76 to $1.00 50,670 8,890 59,560 

$1.01 to $1.25 51,180 14,360 65,540 

$1.26 to $1.50 15,260 26,060 41,320 

$1.51 to $1.75 6,780 23,190 29,970 

$1.76 to $2.00 1,010 17,910 18,920 

$2.01 to $3.00 50 23,530 23,580 

Total' 206,350 114,220 320,570 

' Data may not add to totals shown because of Independent rounding. 



were not included, the estimated cost of production 
(break-even cost) for these mines dropped to $0.77/lb. 
Production costs for developing deposits (including a 
15-pct ROR) generally ranged from $l/lb to $2/lb, with an 
average cost of $1.50/lb. Explored deposits had much 
higher production costs; the average total cost for these 
deposits was estimated to be $1.90/lb, or more than double 
the 1981 copper selling price. 



Of the total quantity of copper potentially recoverable 
from the deposits analyzed, 63 pet was from mines that 
were producing at the time of the study, 12 pet was from 
deposits that were not producing but were under 
development or were scheduled for development in the 
near future, and 24 pet was from explored deposits with no 
known development schedule or scheduled startup date. 
Copper potentially available from producing mines and 
nonproducing deposits is shown in figure 5 and table 17. 

The average total cost of production for producing mines 
(including a 15-pct ROR) was estimated to be $0.92 per 
pound of copper, or about $0.07/lb more than the 1981 
copper selling price. When recovery of capital and profit 



TOTAL AVAILABILITY 
BY REGION 

Potential availability of copper from the six market 
economy regions is shown in table 18. Similar data for the 
four major regions. North America, Central and South 
America, eastern Asia and Oceania, and Africa, are shown 
in figure 6. Nearly 70 pet of market economy copper 
resources occurs in North America or in Central and 
South America. 

The data in table 18 indicate that 82 million tons of 
copper could be economically mined at a total cost of 



23 



Table 18.— Copper potentially available by region at selected total production cost ranges 

(Thousand metric tons of recoverable copper) 



Total cost North Central and 

per pound America South America 

Less than $0.50 2,710 

$0.51 to $0.75 1 0,730 51 ,250 

$0.76 to $1 .00 9,430 14,450 

$1 .01 to $1 .25 34,290 20,080 

$1.26 to $1.50 19,660 8,040 

$1 .76 to $2.00 19,350 19,690 

$2.01 to $3.00 6,150 10,600 

Greater than $3.00 2,150 

Total' 104,470 124,100 

' Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding 



Europe 



Middle East 

and 
western Asia 



Eastern Asia 
and Oceania 



Africa 



Total' 



3,230 


130 


830 


270 


7,170 


2,330 


460 


3,870 


5,880 


74,510 


1,750 


780 


7,440 


25,720 


59,560 


90 





8,070 


3,020 


65,540 


2,650 


5,900 


1,330 


3,740 


41,330 


270 


1,320 


5,190 


3,070 


48,890 





60 


3,800 


2,960 


23,570 


240 


1,020 


4,820 


660 


8,880 



10,550 



9,660 



45,330 



329,450 




10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 6.— Total copper availability by major region. (Costs 
are In average 1981 dollars and include a 15-pct ROR.) 

$0.75/lb: At $l/lb, economic output could be expected to 
increase to 141 million tons. At $l/lb, an estimated 47 pet 
of the recoverable copper would be from Central and South 
American deposits, 23 pet would be from Africa, 16 pet 
would be from North America, and 9 pet would be from 
eastern Asia and Oceania. 

Thirty-two percent of the copper available from North 
American deposits could be economically produced at a 
cost of $l/lb or less, and nearly 55 pet could be 
economically produced at $1.25/lb. From Central and 
South American deposits, 53 pet of the copper would be 
economically available at $l/lb, and nearly 70 pet would 
be economically available at $1.25/lb. African mines, some 
of which have extremely large revenues from b}rproduct 
production, could economically produce over 70 pet of their 
resource at a cost of $l/lb or less. At this same cost, 70 pet 
of European resources could be economically mined, and 
34 pet of the resources from eastern Asia and Oceania 
would be available. Because costs for copper resources in 
the Middle East and western Asia are much higher than 
in other regions, only 14 pet of these resources could be 
economically mined at a cost of $l/lb. 



ANNUAL 
AVAILABILITY 

Estimated mine production capacities for the deposits 
analyzed in this study are shown by country, in table 19. 
The capacities shown are averages of annual production 
over the lives of the deposits in each country. The 272 
mines and deposits analyzed could produce 11.6 million 



Table 19.— Estimated average annual copper mine capacity, by 
region and country 

(Thousand metric tons of recoverable copper) 

Region and country 'tn"et^ eX°dTpo"s^s ™al' 

North America: 

Canada 600 480 1,080 

Mexico 290 260 550 

United States 1,590 1,100 2,700 

Total' 2,470 1,840 4,320 

Central and South America: 

Brazil 70 70 

Chile 1,380 670 2,050 

Peru 350 450 800 

Other 400 400 

Total' 1,730 1,600 3,330 

Europe 280 120 400 

Middle East and western Asia 110 260 370 

Eastern Asia and Oceania: 

Australia 200 150 350 

Philippines 400 190 590 

Other 230 310 550 

Total' 830 660 1,490 

Zaire 610 80 700 

Zambia 690 10 700 

Other 240 90 320 

Total' 1,540 180 1,720 

Grand total (market 

economy countries)' 6,960 4,660 1 1 ,620 

' Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 



tons of copper per year; however, copper prices significant- 
ly above the 1981 level of $0.85/lb would be required to 
stimulate production. The 146 producing mines studied 
were capable of producing 7.0 million tons of recoverable 
copper per year. It has been estimated that 1980 
production of primary refined copper from market 
economy countries totaled 5.9 million tons, or about 85 pet 
of estimated capacity (2). The 23 deposits under develop- 
ment or scheduled to begin development in the near future 
had the capacity to produce an additional 1.3 million tons. 
Explored deposits could increase annual production 
capacity by an estimated 3.4 million tons; however, since 
none of these deposits had definite development plans, 
most will not come into production in the near future. 

Figure 7 shows potential annual copper production at 
selected total production costs, from 1981 to 1995, for 
producing mines and nonproducing deposits. At a cost of 
$l/lb, nearly all output would be from mines that were 
producing at the time of the study. At that cost, an 
estimated 3.7 million tons of copper could be economically 
produced each year, although it is estimated that 
economic output would drop to 3.2 million tons by about 
1995. Five deposits that were being developed could 
economically produce at $l/lb; however, these deposits 



24 




$0-1.00 



$0-75 



$0-.50 




N+4 N+6 N+8 

YEAR 



N+IO N+12 N+14 



Figure 7.— Potential annuai copper production from produc- 
ing, developing, and explored deposits at selected production 
costs. (Costs per pound are shown to the right in each graph 
in average 1981 dollars and include a 15-pct ROR.) 

had annual capacities sufficient to produce only an 
additional 200,000 tons of copper. If copper prices remain 
below $l/lb, analyses performed as part of this study 
indicate that market economy mines cannot continue to 
produce profitably at their 1978-1980 average annual 
production rate of 6.1 million tons; annual production of 4 
to 5 million tons is more likely. 

The average total cost for producing mines (including a 
15-pct ROR) was estimated to be $0.92 per pound of 
copper; $1.07/lb for U.S. mines and $0.87/lb for other 
market economy mines. Of the producing mines, 80 pet of 
the U.S. mines and 50 pet of the other market economy 
mines had a total production cost of more than $l/lb. 
Because of low copper prices, many mines had curtailed 
production or shut down (temporarily or permanently) in 
an attempt to reduce losses. Other mines continued to 
operate at a loss in anticipation of higher copper or 
byproduct prices in the near future. If prices do not 
increase, these mines may also reduce production or close. 

Generally, developing and explored deposits have a 
much higher production cost than do producing mines. 
This is due in part to the higher investments that are 
required and to generally lower ore grades. Developing 
deposits had an average total cost of $1.50/lb. Therefore, 
startup of the higher cost developing deposits will likely 
be postponed or delayed until the projects are economical- 
ly feasible. Explored deposit costs are even higher; 
average total cost for these deposits were estimated to be 
$1.90/lb. Because startup dates for many developing 



deposits have been postponed due to economic conditions 
and startup dates for explored deposits were not known, 
construction of annual availability curves for them was 
based on the assumption that preproduction would begin 
in year "N." These curves indicate that several years 
would be required from the year development begins 
before any production could occur. Although an additional 
4.7 million tons of copper could be produced annually from 
these deposits, copper prices of more than $1.75/lb would 
be required. Therefore, for most of these deposits, 
production in the near future appearjsd unlikely. 

Potential annual copper output for the four major 
market economy regions, at selected production costs, is 
shown in figure 8. At $l/lb, nearly all output would be 
from mines that were producing at the time of the study. 
At this price, the mines analyzed could economically 
produce an estimated 3.7 million tons of copper, which is 
much less than the estimated 5.9 million tons of refined 
copper market economy mines produced in 1980. Analyses 
performed as part of this study indicated that copper 
prices from $1.25/lb to $1.50/lb would be required to meet 
the 1980 production level of the market economy 
countries. At higher copper prices, most production 
potential would be from North and South America. 
However, in order to operate profitably, nearly all of the 
developing and explored deposits in North and South 
America would require copper prices of more than 
$1.25/lb. 



U.S. AVAILABILITY 

Copper production from U.S. mines in 1981 was 
estimated at 1.5 million tons of contained copper; this 
represented a nearly 30-pct increase over 1980 production 
and was the largest production in 8 years. Mine 
production for 1982 was estimated to drop to 1.1 million 
tons. Reported U.S. copper consumption in 1981 was 
estimated at 2.4 million tons. Reported consumption of 
refined copper was 1.9 million tons. (An estimated 610,000 
tons of copper scrap was recycled and converted to refined 
metal and alloys.) The Bureau has forecast an average 
annual U.S. growth rate for consumption of primary 
copper of 2.4 pet (22). This rate of growth would result in a 
1990 U.S. demand level of 2.5 million tons of refined 
copper and a demand level of 3.2 million tons in the year 
2000. 

Total Production 

The 72 U.S. mines and deposits analyzed contain an 
estimated 83 million tons of copper, of which 80 pet is 
recoverable with existing technology. Mines producing at 
the time of the study, including those temporarily shut 
down, accounted for nearly 65 pet of the recoverable 
copper. Total copper availability from U.S. mines and 
deposits is shown in figure 9 and table 20. At the 1981 
copper price of $0.85/lb and at average 1981 costs and 
byproduct prices, U.S. mines could economically produce 
only 10 million tons of copper; at $l/lb, economic output 
would increase to 14 million tons. In an earlier study, the 
Bureau estimated that at January 1978 production costs 
and byproduct prices, U.S. mines could economically 
produce slightly more than 50 million tons of copper at a 
total cost of $l/lb (21). This study, conducted only 3 years 
later, estimates that as of 1981, costs had risen to $1.65/lb 



25 



Central and South America 



1993 1995 




Figure 8.— Potential annual copper production by major region at selected production costs. (Costs per pound are shown to the 
right In each graph In average 1981 dollars and include a 15-pct ROR.) 




10 20 X) 40 » 60 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 9.— Total copper availability from U.S. mines and 
deposits. (Costs are In average 1981 dollars and Include a 
15-pct ROR.) 

to produce the same quantity. More recent data presented 
later in this section indicates that U.S. production costs 
increased an additional $0.15/lb through June 1983. 

The U.S. mines that were producing at the time of this 
study had an average break-even production cost of $0.92 
per poimd of copper (including operating costs, taxes, and 



Table 20. — Copper potentially available from U.S. mines and 
deposits at selected total production cost ranges 

(Thousand metric tons) 

Totalcostperpound ^'^^^^ ex°p1o7»A ^"'^'^ 

Less than $0.75 1 0,200 300 1 0,500 

$0.76 to $1.00 3,500 100 3,600 

$1.01 to $1.25 15,400 2,000 17,400 

$1.26 to $1.50 9,300 5,100 14,400 

$1.51 to $1.75 2,900 6,400 9,300 

$1.76 to $2.00 300 3,300 3,600 

Greater than $2.00 7,400 7,400 

TotaP 41 ,700 24,500 66,200 

' Only 2 deposits were in development at the time of this study. 

' Data may not add to totals shown tjecause of independent rounding. 



miscelleuieous costs). Recovery of capital and profit at a 
15-pct ROR added an additional average cost of $0.15/lb. 
Results of this study indicate that at the 1981 copper price 
of $0.85/lb, only one out of every six producing U.S. mines 
would have received at least a 15-pct ROR. 

Annual Production 

The producing U.S. mines analyzed had a combined 
capacity of about 1.7 million tons of refined copper per 
year, but it was estimated that in 1981 these mines 
operated at only 89 pet of capacity. Production in 1982 



26 



dropped to an estimated 65 pet of capacity, due to 
extremely low copper prices and demand. 

Annual production capacities of U.S. mines producing 
at the time of the study are shown in figure 10; capacity of 
nonproducing deposits are shown in figure 11. At a total 
cost of $l/lb, producing mines had the capacity to 
economically produce about 500,000 tons of copper per 
year. By 1995, capacity from these mines may drop to 
about 375,000 ton/yr as some ore bodies become depleted. 
Historically, however, domestic resources that can be 
economically mined have increased annually because of 
exploration and technologic improvements that facilitate 
mining and processing of lower grade material or the 
processing of material previously considered waste. With 
improvements of this kind, actual annual capacities could 
be higher than those shown in figures 10 and 11. At a total 
cost of production of $1.25/lb, an estimated additional 
700,000 to 750,000 tons of copper could be economically 
mined by producing mines each year. 

Although the annual production capacities of develop- 
ing and explored U.S. deposits are large, production costs 



01 1,800 

I 

.a i.eoo 



3 1,200 — 

3 

'. 1,000- 
800- 
600- 



liJ 



I I 

■~~~^_$0-2.00 
~~~^.^ $0-1.25 

fO-j.OO 
$0-.7S 



1987 1969 

YEAR 



Figure 10.— Potential annual copper production from produc- 
ing U.S. mines. (Costs per pound are shown at right In average 
1981 dollars and include a 15-pct ROR.) 



1,200 



N Year pfeproduction 
development begins 



$0-2.50 




N+2 N+4 



N+6 N+e N+K3 

YEAR 



Figure 11.— Potential annual copper production from de- 
veloping and explored U.S. deposits. (Costs per pound are 
shown at right in average 1981 dollars and Include a 15-pct 
ROR.) 



are much higher than those for producing mines, and 
therefore copper prices above the 1981 price of $0.85/lb 
would be required before these deposits could produce 
economically. Only two U.S. deposits, the Troy, Mont., 
property and the Copper Flat, N.M., property were 
developing at the time of this study. These deposits began 
full production in 1982 at a combined annual capacity of 
about 30,000 tons of recoverable copper. Because of the 
depressed condition of the copper industry, startup dates 
for the 34 explored deposits were uncertain. As was done 
previously (for the developing and explored deposits 
availability curves in figure 7), annual availability curves 
for these deposits were constructed (fig. 11) based on the 
assumption that development of each deposit would begin 
in year "N." As the curves show, a 4- to 6-year lag time is 
required after startup (in year N) for development of the 
deposit before full production can be reached. 

Production costs for nonproducing U.S. deposits are 
high. At a total cost of $1.25/lb, only 100,000 to 150,000 
tons of copper per year could be economically produced. 
However, production from these deposits could more than 
double to 400,000 ton/yr at a cost of $1.50/lb and could 
increase to over 600,000 ton/yr at $1.75/lb. Since these 
production costs are much higher than current market 
prices, it is doubtful that development would be consi- 
dered for many of these deposits in the near future. 

Due to a lack of foreign index and cost data, it was not 
possible to show cost data or plot availability curves for 
foreign deposits beyond 1981. However, because U.S. 
index information was available, it was possible to update 
the domestic deposit costs and availability curves to June 
1983. Results of this analysis indicate that production 
costs for U.S. mines and deposits increased about 10 pet 
between mid-1981 and June 1983. Costs for mines 
producing at the time of the study (including profit at a 
15-pct ROR) increased $0.10 to $1.17 per pound of copper. 

Figure 12 shows the shift in total production costs and 
copper availability for producing domestic mines between 
mid-1981 and June 1983. As shown, costs increased 
significantly, from an average of $1.07/lb in mid-1981 to 
$1.17/lb in June 1983. As a result of these cost increases, 
the quantity of copper that could be economically mined at 
a cost of $l/lb dropped from 13.8 million tons in 1981 to 9.9 
million in 1983. Most of this $0.10/lb increase was due to 




5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 4S 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 12.— Total copper availability from producing U.S. 
mines. (Costs are in average 1981 dollars and Include a 15-pct 
ROR.) 



27 



inflation. There were many changes in byproduct prices, 
but it appeared that decreases in most byproduct prices 
were small and were offset in part by slight increases in 
other b5T)roduct prices. Any future increases in prices for 
the major byproducts — gold, molybdenum, and silver — 
would help offset the increased costs caused by inflation. 
Analysis was also performed to determine the shift in 
annual production costs between 1981 and 1983 for 
domestic producing mines. Figure 13 shows production 
cost and 1983 production potential at capacity levels for 
domestic mines expected to be in production in 1983. 
Included are 32 mines that were producing or temporarily 
shut down at the time of this study. On the average, 
production costs for these mines (including profit at a 
15-pct ROR), increased $0.10 per pound of copper. As a 
result, the amount of copper that could be economically 
produced at a cost of $l/lb dropped about 30 pet, from 
500,000 ton/yr to 350,000 ton/jrr. Producing mines were 
projected to have the capability to produce 1.7 million tons 
of copper in 1983; however, production costs (in June 1983 
dollars and including a 15-pct ROR) would exceed 
$1.50/lb. Again, increases in byproduct prices could 
significantly lower total production costs. Unless current 
market conditions greatly improve, it appears that in 



1.60 

i.so 

1.40 
1.30 
1.20 
1. 10 
1.00 



S- 1.20- 



At June 1983 costs , ^ 

and byproduct prices I 
,— ■J""'' 




200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 

ANNUAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, thousand metric tons 

Figure 13. — Potential annual capacity of producing U.S. 
mines In 1983. (Costs Include a 15-pct ROR.) 

future years the United States will have to rely more 
heavily on imports of copper to meet demand. 



FACTORS AFFECTING COPPER AVAILABILITY 



Of the factors that have significantly affected copper 
availability from market economy countries in recent 
years, two major influences, inflation and byproduct 
commodity prices, were analyzed to determine their 
possible future impact on copper availability. The same 
market economy deposits as were used in the previous 
analyses (i.e., those identified in tables 5-10) were used for 
the inflation and b5T)roduct price analyses. The results of 
these analyses are discussed in the following two sections. 

INFLATION 

Infiation has greatly increased the cost of bringing new 
mines into production. During recent years, annual 



increases in capital costs of 10 to 20 pet have been 
common. As a result, cost estimates for many developing 
deposits have been revised upward, forcing delays or 
suspension of projects. Combined with high interest rates 
and low commodity prices, these high costs have led to a 
scarcity of capital in the mining industry. 

In order to assess the possible impact of continued 
inflation on copper availability, the effects of 25- and 
50-pct increases in capital costs on developing and 
explored deposits were analyzed while all other param- 
eters were held constant. Figure 14 illustrates the effect 
of these increases. The analysis indicated that a 25-pct 
increase in capital costs would raise the average total cost 
for nonproducing deposits by $0.28/lb, from $1.82/lb (the 




Bose (overage 1981 
costs and byproduct 
prices) 



20 40 60 80 100 120 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metrictons 

Figure 14. — impact of capital cost increases on copper 
availability from developing and explored deposits. (Costs are 
In average 1981 dollars and Include a 15-pct ROR.) 




20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 leO 200 220 
TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 15. — impact of 25-pct operating cost increase on 
copper avaliabiiity from producing mines. (Costs are In average 
1981 dollars and include a 15-pct ROR.) 



28 



1981 average total cost) to $2.10/lb. (All costs and prices in 
this section and the next are costs or prices per pound of 
refined copper.) 

As shown in figure 14, a 25-pct increase in capital cost 
would lower the quantity of copper economically recover- 
able at the average 1981 market price ($0.85/lb) by 7.1 
million tons. At higher copper prices of $1.25/lb and 
$1.50/lb, economically recoverable copper would decrease 
by 11.3 and 17 million tons, respectively. 

The impact of inflation on operating costs is even more 
significant than it is on capital cost. As shown in figure 15, 
a 25-pct increase in operating costs would cause the 
availability curve for mines producing at the time of this 
study to shift upward; the average total cost for these 
mines would rise 23 pet, from $0.92/lb to $1.13/lb, a 
$0.21/lb increase. Consequently, the amount of copper 
that producing mines could economically produce would 
decrease significantly. At $0.85/lb, the total would drop by 
more than 60 pet, from 86 million tons to 39 million tons. 

BYPRODUCT 
COMMODITY PRICES 

Revenues from byproduct prices may either offset or 
magnify the effects of inflation. In early 1980, gold and 
silver prices increased sharply, greatly improving the 
profitability of the copper industry. These increases 
caused a renewed interest in the industry, and many 
companies planned to increase the capacities of existing 
mines and develop new deposits. The price increases were 
short-lived, however, and now many mines are not even 
able to cover production costs. 

Figure 16 shows the significant shifts in the total 
availability curve that would result if b3T)roduct prices 
were increased or decreased by 50 pet. For producing 
mines, a 50-pct increase in byproduct prices would lower 




40 80 120 ISO 200 240 280 320 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE COPPER, million metric tons 

Figure 16.— Impact of byproduct price changes on total 
copper availability. (Costs are in average 1981 dollars and 
include a 15-pct ROR.) 



the average total cost by $0.08/lb, to $0.85/lb, whereas a 
50-pct decrease would raise the cost by $0.10/lb, to 
$1.03Ab. For nonproducing deposits, an increase in 
byproduct prices would lower the average total cost by 
$0.14/lb, to, $1.68/lb, whereas a decrease would raise the 
average cost to $1.95Ab. 

At a copper price of $0.85/lb, a 50-pct increase in 
byproduct prices would make available an additional 19 
million tons of copper, and a 50-pct byproduct price 
decrease would reduce copper availability by 10 million 
tons. At a copper price of $1.25/lb, the impact of byproduct 
price changes would be greater; a 50-pct byproduct price 
increase would make available an additional 12 million 
tons of copper, whereas a 50-pct byproduct price decrease 
would reduce copper availability by 21 million tons. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



The 272 mines and deposits the Bureau analyzed for 
this study contain an estimated 413 million tons of copper, 
of which 80 pet is recoverable using present mining and 
processing technology. Of the copper potentially recover- 
able from these mines and deposits, 63 pet is from mines 
that were producing at the time of the study, and 37 pet is 
from developing or explored deposits. 

Forty-six percent of the copper potentially recoverable 
from market economy countries occurs in Chile and the 
United States, which have the world's largest copper 
resources. At the average 1981 market price of $0.85 per 
pound of copper, the market economy countries could 
economically produce an estimated 88 million tons of 
copper, which would be equal to about 27 pet of the copper 
available from these countries. At a price of $l/lb (in 
constant 1981 dollars), the quantity of copper that could 
be economically produced would increase to 141 million 
tons. At both these prices, nearly all output would be from 
mines that were producing at the time of the study. 

Copper mine production from market economy coun- 
tries during 1981 was estimated at 6.2 million tons. At the 
average 1981 copper price of $0.85/lb, analyses indicated 
that producing operations could economically produce 
(realizing a 15-pct ROR) only 2.1 million tons of copper per 



year; therefore, many mines were operating at less them a 
15-pct ROR. Analysis indicated that copper prices of 
$1.25/lb to $1.50/lb would be required for the copper 
industry to produce economically at the 1981 production 
level. 

The average total cost for producing mines (including 
profit at a 15-pct ROR) was estimated to be $0.92 per 
pound of copper: $1.07/lb for U.S. mines and $0.87/lb for 
other market economy mines. An estimated 80 pet of U.S. 
producing mines and 50 pet of other market economy 
mines have a total cost (including profit) of greater than 
$l/lb. Because of recent low copper prices, many mines 
have curtailed production or shut down; unless market 
prices increase, additional mines may follow suit. Total 
cost was much higher for developing deposits, averaging 
$1.50/lb. Startup of the higher cost developing deposits 
will likely be postponed or delayed until market condi- 
tions improve. Costs for nonproducing deposits averaged 
$1.82/lb, which is more than double the January 1981 
market price. Production from most of these deposits is 
unlikely for many years. 

Over the last 3 years, production costs for U.S. mines 
have increased greatly. In a 1978 study, the Bureau 
estimated that at a copper price of $l/lb, slightly more 



29 



than 50 million tons of copper could be mined economical- 
ly. This study indicates that a copper price of $1.65/lb is 
now required for mines to produce this same amount 
economically. The break-even production cost (including 
operating costs, taxes, and miscellaneous costs but not 
recovery of capital or profit) for the U.S. mines producing 
at the time of this study was $0.92 per pound of copper; 
recovery of capital and profit, at a 15-pct ROR, added an 
additional $0.15/lb. At the January 198 1 price of $0.85Ab, 
it was estimated that only one out of every six U.S. mines 
was operating economically. 

Capital costs per annual ton of refined copper were 
estimated to be $5,800 (in 1981 dollars.) These costs 
include exploration, acquisition, development, mine and 
mill plant and equipment, and infrastructure but do not 
include smelting and refinery costs. Analyses indicated 



that inflationary impacts on capital and operating costs 
have greatly affected deposit profitability, as have recent 
shifts in b3rproduct commodity prices. 

This study (based on 1981 data) confirmed that recent 
copper and bs^product price levels imposed extreme 
hardships on the copper industry of the market economy 
countries. The situation was even more acute for U.S. 
producers, whose production costs (in average 1981 
dollars) averaged $1.07 per pound of copper, which was 
$0.20/lb more than the costs encountered by producers in 
other market economy countries. More recent data 
(projections for June 1983) showed that cost escalations 
have not abated. Unless market conditions greatly 
improve, many additional mines in the United States and 
around the world may be forced to close. 



REFERENCES 



1. Bennett, H. J., L. Moore, L. E. Welborn, and J. E. Toland. An 
Economic Appraisal of the Supply of Copper From Primary 
Domestic Sources. BuMines IC 8598, 1973, 156 pp. 

2. Butterman, W. C. Copper. Ch. in BuMines Minerals 
Yearbook 1980, v. 1, pp. 261-291. 

3. Canadian Mining Journal. Cominco's Bethlehem Purchase 
Paves Way for Valley Development. Nov. 1981, pp. 24-31. 

4. Centromin Peru S.A. 1981 Annual Report, 55 pp. 

5. Clement, G. K., Jr., R. L. Miller, P. A. Seibert, L. Avery, and 
H. Bennett. Capital and Operating Cost Estimating System 
Manual for Mining and Beneficiation of Metallic and Nonmetallic 
Minerals Except Fossil Fuels in the United States and Canada. 
(Also known as the STRAAM handbook.) BuMines Special Pub., 
1980, 149 pp. 

6. Cox, D. P., N. A. Wright, and G. J. Coakley. The Nature and 
Use of Copper Reserve and Resource Data. U.S. Geol. Survey 
Professional Paper 907F, 1981, p. FIG. 

7. Davidoff, R. L. Supply Analysis Model (SAM): A Minerals 
Availability System Methodology. BuMines IC 8820, 1979, 45 pp. 

8. Engineering and Mining Journal. 1982 Survey of Mine and 
Plant Expansion. V. 183, No. 1, pp. 51-71. 

9. Brazil Takes First Steps on the Long Road to Copper 

Self-Sufficiency. V. 182, No. 10, p. 57. 

10. Cerro Colorado Project May Be Delayed by Costs 

and Low Copper Price. V. 183, No. 2, p. 11. 

11. Chile Sees Larger Role for Private Copper Mines to 

Achieve Output Goals. V. 182, No. 10, p. 48. 

12. Miami East Project May Utilize Dasco Mining 

Machines in Stopes. V. 183, No. 3, pp. 35-39. 

13. Peru Mounts New Campaign to Attract Foreign 

Capital for Mine Development. V. 182, No. 7, pp. 35-37. 

14. Production Begins at Asarco's Troy Project. V. 182, 

No. 9, p. 55. 

15. This Month in Mining. New Mexico section. V. 182, 

No. 9, p. 258. 

16. This Month in Mining. Papua New Guinea section. 

V. 183, No. 2, p. 162, 

17. This Month in Mining. Peru section. V. 182, No. 11, 

p. 310. 



18. 



. This Month in Mining. Philippines section. V. 183, 



No. 3, p. 222. 

19. Everett, F. D., and H. J. Bennett. Evaluation of Domestic 
Reserves and Potential Sources of Ores Containing Copper, Lead, 
Zinc, and Associated Metals. BuMines IC 8235, 1967, 78 pp. 

20. Mining Magazine. Gravity Surveys the Key at Neves- 
Corvo, Portugal. V. 145, No. 5, p. 345. 

21. New Mine in Bor Cu Field. V. 142, No. 4, p. 389. 

22. Rosenkranz, R. D., R. L. Davidoff, J. F. Lemons, Jr. Copper 
Availability — Domestic. A Minerals Availability System 
Appraisal. BuMines IC 8809, 1979, 31 pp. 

23. Schroeder, H. J. Copper. Ch. in BuMines Minerals 
Yearbook 1971, v. 1 pp. 461-494. 

24. Schroeder, H. J., and J. H. Jolly. Copper. Ch. in Minerals 
Facts and Problems. BuMines Bull. 671, 1980, pp. 227-244. 

25. Sousa, L. J. The U.S. Copper Industry — Problems, Issues, 
and Outlook. BuMines Mineral Issues, 1981, 86 pp. 

26. Stermole, F. J. Economic Evaluation and Investment 
Decision Methods. Investment Evaluations Corp., Golden, Colo., 
2d ed., 1974, 443 pp. 

27. Tomimatsu, T. T. The U.S. Copper Mining Industry. A 
Perspective on Financial Health. BuMines IC 8836, 1980, 20 pp. 

28. U.S. Bureau of Mines. Copper. Ch. in Mineral Commodity 
Summaries, 1982, pp. 40-41. 

29. U.S. Geological Survey. Principles of a Resource/Reserve 
Classification for Minerals. U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 831, 1980, 5 
pp. 

30. White, L. Why are Copper Concentrates Produced in 
Arizona and Montana Being Smelted in Japan? Eng. and Min. J., 
V. 183, No. 5, pp. 72-75. 

31. Wideman, F. L., G. N. Greenspan, and W. F. Washington. 
Copper. Ch. in BuMines Minerals Yearbook 1962, v. 1, pp. 
483-530. 

32. World Mining. Argentina section. June 1981, p. 155. 
33. Asia section. May 1981, p. 49. 

34. Burma section. June 1981, p. 142. 

35. Sweden section. June 1981, p. 156. 

36. Uganda section. March 1981, p. 72. 



30 



APPENDIX 



Table A-1. — Deposits Investigated but not included In this study 



Country and deposit name Comments 


Country and deposit name Comments 


NORTH AMERICA 


MIDDLE EAST AND WESTERN ASIA 


Canada: ' 
Caritjoo Bell Raw prospect. 


Cyprus: Limni Small resource. 

India: 






Gambler Island Raw prospect. 


Kalyadi Small resource. 

Rajpura-Dariba Lead-zinc mine. 

Iran: Meiduk (Lacher) Small resource. 

Saudi Arabia: Al Masane Raw prospect. 

Turkey: 

Asikoy Do. 

Kure-Bakibaba Small resource. 






Lyon Lake Do. 

Mattabi Do. 

Ming Small resource. 

Morrison Raw prospect. 

Nabs Do. 






OK Do. 

Red Group Do. 


EASTERN ASIA AND OCEANIA 


Spruce Point Small zinc-lead-silver deposit. 




Sturgeon Lake Reserves depleted. 




Sudbury (Inco) Nickel mines. 


Burra Do 


Sudbury (Falconbridge) Do. 

Tasu Small resource. 


Mount Dianne Do. 

Mount Gunson Do 


Thompson Nickel mine. 


Mount Morgan Do 


Whitehorse Copper Small resource. 

Mexico: 
Cumobabi Small mine. 


Olympia Dam Resource estimation in progress. 

Indonesia: 
Timor Island Deposit unknown. 


Inguaran Reserves depleted. 


Sulawesi Raw prospect. 


CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 


Akenobe Small resource. 


Argentina: 
Cerro Mercedario Raw prospect. 


Fuoitobe Do. 

Hanawa Do. 

Shakanai Do. 


Famatina Do. 

Bolivia: 

Chacarilla Small resource. 

Corocoro Do. 

Brazil: 

Carajas Raw prospect. 

Eloma Do. 

Chile: 

Carolina Michilla . . . Small resource. 




Yanahara Pyrite deposit. 

Papua New Guinea: Aerie Raw prospect. 

Philippines: 

Bagacay Raw prospect. 

Balete Small resource. 

Barlo Do. 

Black Rock Do. 


Cauayan Raw prospect. 




Hercules Small resource. 


Copaquire Molybdenum deposit, raw prospect. 

El Indio Primarily a small gold-silver deposit. 

La Africana Raw prospect. 


Luna Raw prospect. 

Omico Mining ... Small resource. 


Polar Raw prospect. 


Puntillas Do. 

Sierra Gorda Do. 

Colombia: 


Regalian Small resource. 

Vulcan Do. 

Thailand: Phu Hin Lek Fai Raw prospect. 


Panlanos— Pegadorcito Do. 


AFRICA 


Chaucha Do. 

Loja District name. 

Panama" Rio Pito Geochemical anomaly. 


Angola: 

Cachoeiras de Binga Raw prospect. 

Namibia: 


Peru: 

Canariaco Raw prospect. 

Chalcpbamba (Las Bambas) Do. 
La Granja . ... Do. 


Haib River Do. 


Matchless Small resource. 

Oamites Do. 

Okahandja Do. 


Pashpap Do. 

Quechua Geochemical anomaly. 


Onganca Do. 

South Africa: 
Bafokeng Platinum mine. 




Foskor Phosphate mine at Palabora. 

Marikana Platinum mine. 


EUROPE 


Rnland: 

Hammaslahti Small resource. 

Vihanti Zinc mine. 

Virtasalmi Small resource. 

France: Salisgne Do. 

Greece: 

Emonis Reserves depleted. 

Kassandra Lead-zinc mine. 


Rustenberg Do. 

Zambia: 
Bwana Mkubwa Small resource. 


Chimiwungo Raw prospect. 

Malundwe Do. 

Mokambo Small resource. 

Zimbabwe: 

Empress Nickel mine. 

Inyati Small resource. 


United Kingdom: 

Coed-Y-Brennin Raw prospect. 

Yugoslavia* Kapaonik Do. 


Norah Do. 

Shackleton Do. 

Shangani Nickel mine. 







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